A small group of peaceful demonstrators protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake hold a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Scott Olson/Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

A small group of peaceful demonstrators protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake hold a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

That's how the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads. But the interpretation of that text varies.

There are 181 active militia groups in the U.S., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some of these groups are turning up at protests against police brutality and racial inequality.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of fatally shooting two protestors and seriously wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is a self-described member of a militia.

There are lots of questions about these groups and how they function.

What is the legal definition of a militia? What powers do they have? What does it mean that President Donald Trump has defended the actions of these groups?

Mary McCord, legal director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection; Heath Druzin, Boise State Public Radio's Guns & America reporter and Jonathan Metzel, director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University joined us to talk about these questions and more.

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