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Controversy Over Armament

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In both [[Alliance]] and [[Foundation]] controlled space, as well as [[Joint Space]], the Merchane Marine is an organization of private-sector, civilian ships, that serves as a space-naval auxiliary in times of war.

==Overview==
The Merchant Marine is an independent organization. In the Alliance, membership in the Merchant Marine is not considered mandatory, although it is so in [[GS]] and [[joint space]], as well as regions controlled by many Alliance member-worlds. Since very few ships operate where registration is not mandatory, nearly every civilian ship is a part.

In times of war, Merchant Marine vessels can be called upon to deliver troops and supplies, but may also be used in combat depending on armament, or modified for mine-laying duty. Since membership in the Merchant Marine entitles civilian ships to arm themselves to varying degrees, some can serve as warships.

==History==
The Merchant Marine was created along with the [[Alliance#Alliance Space Commission|Alliance Space Commission]] formally passed into law in [[A.Y.]] 24.

==Controversy Over Armament==
In the early days of space travel, piracy was relatively rampant. Though the Alliance and the Foundation made a broad millitary presence, the problem persisted. The Foundation saw an obvious solution: arm civilian ships. The Alliance, of course, would hear of this, and passed numerous laws limiting the weapons fitted to civilian-owned spacecraft.

These laws were seldom enforced in joint space as the Foundation was the primary policing power, and did not exist at all in [[GS]] territories. However, there were few cases in both joint and [[Alliance]] space in which civilians were fined or even jailed for "illegal" weapons (most bought legally from the [[Gudersnipe Foundation]]). In a rare political move, the Foundation used each case to stretch the limits of what civilian vessels could legally obtain. By the mid [[Ages#The Second Age|Second Age]], civilian vessels could legally carry the same weapons as most warships. Very few did, but it certainly helped deal with the piracy problem, both then and in the later [[Terse Period]].

==Current Weapon Status==
Various laws eventually restricted weapons control. Primarily, these laws centered around weapons that were not exclusively ship-to-ship and could be used against other targets. Both to keep these weapons out of the hands of pirates and to prevent domestic terrorism, the Foundation inforced a permit system to help track which weapons went where. Civilian vessels could easily obtain array-type weapons that fired energy beams, but missiles equired a lengthy licensing process and a strict series of permits.

[[Category:Course Books]]

Merchant Marine - Revision history

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