A group of students at the State University of New York at New Paltz is in the process of forming a potential student militia.

If brought to life, the militia could be joined by any willing student and will consist of 13 sections or “platoons,” according to wikipaltz.com. Each platoon will independently elect three executive officers, a first lieutenant, a lieutenant and warrant officer, who will have the power to compose a New Paltz Student Militia Central Council (NPSMCC).

The first lieutenant of each platoon will serve a one-month term as executive of the NPSMCC, resulting in a constant rotation of leadership throughout the year. If there’s a “conflict” or if “combat operations” are taking place, the NPSMCC may vote, by majority, to allow the current executive officer to remain in power until the conflict is resolved.

Student government Senators Brian Gold and Dan Curtis, Executive Secretary of the Senate Michael Peters, Senate Chair Justin Holmes and President R.J. Partington III are the prime movers on the idea of a militia. Gold put the platoon information on the page describing the militia on wikipaltz.com, Peters said.

“I think it’s very, very, very ambitious,” Peters said. “It would be great if we had 13 platoons; that would be 700 people. I don’t really know how we’re going to structure that.”

Anyone would be allowed to join the militia, and all members would have to go through intense training.

The training would occur at the beginning of the spring and fall semesters. During week one, members would educate the new members on “understanding the role of a student militia.”

“Firearms education” would comprise week two. Firearms education would continue, along with range firing, during the third week of training.

Week four would entail leadership training. The fifth and sixth weeks would consist of field training. Finally, week seven would conclude the training with an induction into the militia, and participants would have platoon assignments.

“Here we want to do firearms training so that people know the proper use of firearms,” Peters said.

The main purpose of the militia is “to provide a defense organization for the student body of SUNY New Paltz,” according to wikipaltz.com. “Composed of students, it will exist to protect the rights and interests of students against all enemies, internal and external.”

According to the Web site, the militia will also be established as a protection of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ensuring the right to bear arms.

“To be perfectly honest,” Peters said, “I think that [the tyranny] is aimed at the administration’s policies and the police.”

Peters added, “I know one thing that has consistently been talked about is if the police are harassing students.”

Eventually, Peters and the other members would like to get New York State to pass laws that allow students to carry weapons on campus.

“If [the police are] going to have guns, we should have guns,” Peters said. “If we can’t have guns then they shouldn’t be able to have guns. It should be one or the other.”

Peters added, “On a base level, when one group in society doesn’t have weapons and a group that’s in control of them does, then the group without weapons is always going to be discriminated against. That’s how it has worked throughout all of history.”

Ultimately, Peters said, he would love to see the militia have a 24-hour office in the Student Union Building.

“If you go through Campus Judicial against a [University Police Department] officer, it’s your word against theirs and they’re always going to trust the UPD officer over the student,” Peters said.

The militia would also be available to escort students around campus, because of the allegedly “fickle” current campus escort system.

“I’d like to model some patrols after Vassar [College],” Peters said. “They have a student patrol group. You can call them and they’ll escort you anywhere.”

The concept of a student militia is relatively new, according to Peters, who said that after extensive research, he couldn’t find any other school with a militia.

The militia will have to submit a charter form to the chairperson of New Paltz’s Council of Organizations. The organization will then perform a three-minute presentation before the body. Other organizations have the right to ask the founders of the militia questions. After the question session, the leaders of the militia will leave the room, the various organizations will conduct a discussion and vote whether or not to approve the proposition. It’s up to the other clubs to induct the new club, Peters said.

The group was supposed to present to the Council of Orgs for approval on April 24, but because of the recent elections and election campaigns, the leaders were too busy, according to Peters.

“We want to make sure students are safe, with or without weapons,” Peters said.

He added, “We’re a watchdog group for the police. We’re an advocacy group for students’ rights in general.”

E-mail the writer at saverc46@newpaltz.edu