The 41st Militia Arrived on the 20th Day

   Day 20. The sun had just broken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon when a group of perhaps 40 musket-bearing soldiers appeared up the road. Dressed to look like revolutionary war minutemen, they marched smartly forward, singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in perfect harmony.
   They stopped maybe a quarter a mile away and, sent a Rin Tin Tin-looking dog ahead to inform the occupying militia that their muskets were actually empty, and that they actually just wondered if the current occupiers would be willing to let them share land. All those bottles of Miracle Whip and packages of Pall Mall Menthol 100's, and boxer briefs the occupiers had requested? The new group had 'em, provisions for all.
   Rin Tin Tin dropped the message scroll from his mouth as he arrived at the camp. Ammon Bundy ran over picked it up, and read it.
   "Be it hereby declared, that we of the 41st Militia desire to join in the occupation, but with an independent voice. Inasmuch as you say the land belongs to the people, we desire that it be granted that we, too, have right to be on the property. We come neither as foes, nor as philosophical brothers. We consider ourselves friends, though ours be a different message. Our voice comes in support of our government. We seek but to let it be known we appreciate the federal government's taking care of the land. If there be faults in the governance, we seek for their remedy. But, we do not seek to take the land away from a government we swear allegiance to. And, surely we do swear allegiance, for we believe patriotism that is not true to the government in its current form, is not patriotism at all. Patriotism ceases to be patriotism when it does not cover the here and now. We will oppose policies we do not think are just, but we will not rise up in rebellion. We will seek redress when we have been wronged, but we will not seek to enforce our opinions with weapons. Our resistance will not come under threat of using our guns."
  Then, the scroll contained the part about how they came without loaded weapons.