How can we guarantee that a small government will follow the law?

Easy You starve it and it doesn't have the money that it needs to trample our freedoms. I like to see some corrupt cops try to bully innocent people without a pay check.

The constitution grants the gov't the authority to maintain a navy but , only to raise armies. It grants congress authority to make recommendations for the training of the militia and,it burdens the states with providing the ready militia for service when armies are needed.The bill of rights goes further, defining the militia as the rightful purview of the states and the keeping of arms as the right of the people.

These are not arcane ideas of a bygone age. The purpose of defining the militia as the means of national defense was precisely for the reasons expressed in your questions. If a president wants to go to war, he must first convince the states to join him. The states in turn must convince the militia. Yes, that's right, military duty was voluntary. Militia training may have been mandatory but, military service was not. Militia groups negotiated their own terms of enlistment; pay, duration of service, theater of operations, provision of food and equipment. As inefficient as all this may seem, no battles were delayed because of it.

Mao Tse Tung once said "power stems from the muzzle of a gun." No truer words were ever spoken. When the people themselves hold the ultimate power of the state- the power of war- in their own tax paying hands, then gov't is cautious of inciting belligerence. The very people must be individually convinced of the necessity of war before it's outbreak.

This does not, as it may seem, leave the country open to surprise attack. First, there is the navy. And, the constitution does not forbid the gov't from employing professional soldiers as general staff to the commander in chief or, as training instructors fulfilling the recommendations of congress. In times of crisis these may be quickly called upon until armies can be raised.Even in these modern times of instant warfare, a thoroughly trained civilian militia can very quickly become an indomitable force.

The militia also perform other functions as well. Law enforcement, firefighting, first aid and rescue as are still, in many parts of the country, provided by volunteer organizations not very different than the militia of the founders time. Imagine if the people of New Orleans had all been trained in rescue and crisis management, how many lives might have been saved.If everyone were trained in firearm safety, how many fewer accidental shootings would occur. If everyone were armed, if only in their homes, how many fewer criminals would tempted to commit violence.

Gov't cannot be trusted, be it large or small. Anyone, in a position of power to take a nation to war, will do so at first opportunity should there be something of value to gain. Empire is to great a temptation. The only force which can provide the security necessary to a FREE state is a militia based on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

The Plumber

But it will make it a hell of a lot easier to find those who do not.

The enforcement of the Constitution is supposed to be a circle. The Government enforces the laws against individuals who are infringing on the rights and freedoms of others and the armed citizenry enforces the laws against the Government. Since, basically, he who has the guns is the law. A million armed citizens can't be stopped even by a corrupt police force of 50,000+. That is the very reason why those in power who want to break the law want to take away everyone's guns. Then, no matter how much you protest and see the truth of circumstances, you can't fight them.

limited government was a chimera:

"If,in fact, we cast a cold and logical eye on the theory of "limited government," we can see it for the chimera that it really is, for the unrealistic and inconsistent "Utopia" that it holds forth. In the first place, there is no reason to assume that a compulsory monopoly of violence, once acquired by the "Jones family" or by any State rulers, will remain "limited" to protection of person and property."

If the government is once again restrained by the Constitution, if sound money limits the government's ability to operate beyond a budget laid down by a responsible Congress and several Amendments are repealed like the 14th, 16th and 17th, along with many, many acts, legislations, agencies, and the People once again understand what it means to be Free, and the value of Liberty then it can happen.

Oh, and the land be purged from the influences of the banking cartel and the mercantilist...yeah, it would not be as much of a problem as we might think.

http://www.1776solution.blogspot.com

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater

and the people stay aware of what their government is doing