[gallo]

Quote by: G. Adams If the state maintains the militia, it is not a militia, but a state army. A militia is self-supporting.

Not necessarily. That definition may be fitting for groups like the Michigan Militia, who dressed in camouflage and ran around calling each other "general" and "colonel", but that isn't what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.

First, is the definition of militia from the Virginia Constitution of 1776 that I quoted before. Clearly, that is not a reference to the militia that you propose.

Next there is the matter of what is said about the militia in the Constitution.

Quote by: Article I, section 8: To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Quote by: Article II, section 2: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;

Clearly the framers of the Constitution meant another definition of militia from yours. Clearly they envisioned a militia that is supported by the state and subject to the call of the state.. Clearly they meant the primary definition of militia, an official reserve army, composed of citizen soldiers.

Quote by: G. Adams My comment as to weapons being dished out was part of the overall criticism that a militia cannot be maintained or directed by a political power. The weapons of a militia are, as you said, privately owned. This must be true today also.

Actually, when I mentioned that the militia units of the Revolutionary War furnished their own weapons, I was speaking historically. Obviously that was not the intent of the framers of the Constitution since they specifically specified that the militias were to be armed by the federal government, as well as organized and disciplined. And while training was to be prescribed by Congress, the responsibility for carrying out the training was the states.

Quote by: G. Adams A militia is a military unit, one that can and typically does act in support of state forces, but it is not under direct military control.

Again, you use a non-standard definition. A militia is a military unit of a state and it is subject to the call to active duty by Congress. That pretty much describes the National Guard.

Quote by: G. Adams That kind of military forces is a reservist army, not a militia.

Yes. Indeed. One definition of a militia, an official reserve army, composed of citizen soldiers.

Quote by: G. Adams We can only guess and put forth our opinions on the real meaning of "well-regulated", but I stand by mine.

Personally, I think that the Constitution specifies what was meant by well regulated, i.e., organized, armed and disciplined by the federal government, trained by the state according to Congress' prescription. I think that "well regulated" excludes organizations like the Michigan Militia from consideration as a militia according to the Constitution.

Quote by: G. Adams It is of course preferable for militias to have trained, many did have training of sorts back at the time of the revolutionary war, but it is in the nature of militias to be quickly raised and heavily green.

Historically, Revolutionary militias were not very good military units. They functioned better as irregulars. One example is that action of the Massachusetts Minute Men at Lexington and Concord. Rather than stand and fight like regular armies of the time, they gave ground, established a defensive position on high ground, channeled the opposing army to a single narrow front, and then harassed the retreating regulars from all sides with quick hit and run attacks.

All in all, if we are to establish what right the 2nd Amendment guarantees, then we must also understand what the framers of the Constitution meant by Militia.