Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Can someone tell me what Oath Keepers of VA is and what they stand for?

a grp of Leo's and miltary service men and women that have joined together to follow their "oath of office" ie follow the constitution... getting quite large across the nation, although I bet it could hurt your career

While I'm not too familiar with the group here's what I found doing a quick search.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_Keepers

Oath Keepers is an American nonprofit organization[1] that advocates that its members (current and former U.S. military and law enforcement) uphold the Constitution of the United States should they be ordered to violate it.[

Oath Keepers web site
http://oathkeepers.net/

OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY
Click here to read full length version.

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Thanks for the info.

jaywade wrote:a grp of Leo's and miltary service men and women that have joined together to follow their "oath of office" ie follow the constitution... getting quite large across the nation, although I bet it could hurt your career

+1

The government generally doesn't take it lightly when its sworn officials join an organization which says they won't do their "duty." No matter how right or wrong it may be, those are the facts.

gunderwood wrote:

jaywade wrote:a grp of Leo's and miltary service men and women that have joined together to follow their "oath of office" ie follow the constitution... getting quite large across the nation, although I bet it could hurt your career

+1

The government generally doesn't take it lightly when its sworn officials join an organization which says they won't do their "duty." No matter how right or wrong it may be, those are the facts.

well I think a lot of the thought behind the grp... the scary thing is our leaders, our judges , and even our military's higher ups are changing.... I do think there is a need for the oath keepers...I do...but I also understand that for those that want to be career service men it will hurt your ability to move up through the ranks...for local LEO's it would depend on the area... butthe military is a much bigger beast

Yeah they would definately hammer you in the military for that.

Thanks for bringing this up... I've been meaning to remove OathKeepers from the forum for awhile, and just now got around to it. There are no longer any references to the Oath Keepers in our profiles or in any links to their site (there was a link in the left menu).

They were added here when they first started out because I thought it would be a good idea and a way to show our patriotism, but I have since decided that they are a little too far out for our forum to support and thus they have been removed.

OK, I'll ask; What brought about the change of heart?

allingeneral wrote:Thanks for bringing this up... I've been meaning to remove OathKeepers from the forum for awhile, and just now got around to it. There are no longer any references to the Oath Keepers in our profiles or in any links to their site (there was a link in the left menu).

They were added here when they first started out because I thought it would be a good idea and a way to show our patriotism, but I have since decided that they are a little too far out for our forum to support and thus they have been removed.

I felt the same way. I removed the OK icon from my signature a while ago when the leader was suspected of some crime. I didn't feel that it was a good idea for my company to have that association.

I like the concept of what they stand for, but their methods may be a bit too extreme for me.

ProShooter wrote:I felt the same way. I removed the OK icon from my signature a while ago when the leader was suspected of some crime. I didn't feel that it was a good idea for my company to have that association.

I like the concept of what they stand for, but their methods may be a bit too extreme for me.

Are you sure about that? I remember when that happened and was searching all over the net for info about the guy. Because I didn't want to be part of something that would tolerate something like that. It came out that he was part of another group that was calling themselves the real oath keepers and were right wing extremists. And then Stewart Rhodes made an announcement that the dude was never associated with the Oath Keepers, let alone a leader.

And what methods are a bit too extreme for you?

I was going to link to some sites here with info on the guy, but they are blocked here at work, so I don't want to post them until I can verify that they are the correct ones.

These are the links to the "good or at least the correct oathkeepers" I am also curious about what methoids Pro Shooter finds objectionable.

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/http://oathkeepers.ning.com/

I don't necessarily have a problem with any of their methods in particular. However i do get the feeling that they lean a little bit hard to the right. I don't mind discussing them here and i probably will join in discussions there as well, but at this point i do not want to directly associate our forum with them.

There's no specific reason other than the feeling in my gut.

I can't put my finger on the stuff that I read a few months ago, but it was just something that didn't sit right with me at the time. As Rick said, sometimes you read or hear stuff and get a feeling in your gut that doesn't sit well with you.

I'll have to see if I can find the videos that I watched a few months ago.

The media did their hatchet job and now, rightly or wrongly, everyone is a bit unsure. Mission accomplished left wing nut jobs!

gunderwood wrote:The media did their hatchet job and now, rightly or wrongly, everyone is a bit unsure. Mission accomplished left wing nut jobs!

Yep.

ProShooter wrote:I can't put my finger on the stuff that I read a few months ago, but it was just something that didn't sit right with me at the time. As Rick said, sometimes you read or hear stuff and get a feeling in your gut that doesn't sit well with you.

I'll have to see if I can find the videos that I watched a few months ago.

Yeah, I have seen videos that I didn't like, but the videos I seen came from nut jobs like the dude that got charged with child rape and weapons charges. But those are individuals not organizations. Those nut jobs are everywhere and that doesn't mean they represent the organization's views.

I bet there are some pretty good nut jobs in all the other organizations as well but you all still support them....... that's because we haven't heard anything from any of them.


You have to be smart out there. You can't be posting videos of your political views/beliefs out there on the internet. Once there, it is always there and will come back to haunt you.
I have 2 rules I go by
1. I NEVER discuss politics or my views
2. I NEVER discuss religion or my beliefs.

You will not find one political or religious discussion on this board or any board where I have taken part in. And you never will. IT will come back to haunt you one day.

Unkn0wN wrote:

ProShooter wrote:I can't put my finger on the stuff that I read a few months ago, but it was just something that didn't sit right with me at the time. As Rick said, sometimes you read or hear stuff and get a feeling in your gut that doesn't sit well with you.

I'll have to see if I can find the videos that I watched a few months ago.

Yeah, I have seen videos that I didn't like, but the videos I seen came from nut jobs like the dude that got charged with child rape and weapons charges. But those are individuals not organizations. Those nut jobs are everywhere and that doesn't mean they represent the organization's views.

I bet there are some pretty good nut jobs in all the other organizations as well but you all still support them....... that's because we haven't heard anything from any of them.


You have to be smart out there. You can't be posting videos of your political views/beliefs out there on the internet. Once there, it is always there and will come back to haunt you.
I have 2 rules I go by
1. I NEVER discuss politics or my views
2. I NEVER discuss religion or my beliefs.

You will not find one political or religious discussion on this board or any board where I have taken part in. And you never will. IT will come back to haunt you one day.

I hear you, but...

shall I limit my speech because the government *could* use it against me in the future? IMHO, that is the same as condemning people for OC because it could cause an incident, despite it being their right.

If the people are afraid to exercise their rights out of fear of retaliation (loose their job, clearance, harassment, etc.), do they really have them?

gunderwood wrote:
If the people are afraid to exercise their rights out of fear of retaliation (loose their job, clearance, harassment, etc.), do they really have them?

Sad, but true. Saw this discussion recently on LinkedIn. Both ARFCOM & GOA have groups there. GOA only has 121 members and ARFCOM has only 12. Why? One of the discussions was that folsk thought it would hurt their chances of landing a new gig if they advertised those groups on their profile. I also think it's because no one would think to search the groups directory for those sorts of things, but why not? Are GOA, ARFCOM & VGOF not simply "professional organizations"? Of course they are. But the plain & simple facts are that employers & potential employres DO check out your on-line presence and what you say/post there. Personally, as someone who has made hiring decisions in the past, that's a bad policy and I never did it.

KaosDad wrote:

gunderwood wrote:
If the people are afraid to exercise their rights out of fear of retaliation (loose their job, clearance, harassment, etc.), do they really have them?

Sad, but true. Saw this discussion recently on LinkedIn. Both ARFCOM & GOA have groups there. GOA only has 121 members and ARFCOM has only 12. Why? One of the discussions was that folsk thought it would hurt their chances of landing a new gig if they advertised those groups on their profile. I also think it's because no one would think to search the groups directory for those sorts of things, but why not? Are GOA, ARFCOM & VGOF not simply "professional organizations"? Of course they are. But the plain & simple facts are that employers & potential employres DO check out your on-line presence and what you say/post there. Personally, as someone who has made hiring decisions in the past, that's a bad policy and I never did it.

Looking for unlawful behavior is one thing. AFAIK, OK have not suggested or required any of their members to actually break the law. In fact, if you are military, your oath requires what OK says. Many other public positions are similar, you gave an oath to uphold and keep the Constitution, not subvert it. That is all OK is pointing out AFAIK. Being part of a 2nd Amendment group shouldn't disqualify you...posting on your blog about illegal drugs, etc. is fair game IMHO.

Lawful activity should be fine (even if you don't particularly agree). Unlawful is a different matter.