What is the Militia?

As the debate about D.C. vs Heller rolls around, I was compelled to find out what the legal definition of a "Militia" is within the United States. The 2nd amendment reads "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."

To give a touch of background, I come from a very liberal family. My mother never wanted me to own a toy gun because it "promoted violence". My sisters live in the most liberal part of the state and think that guns are evil incarnate. So, I was raised to believe that the 2nd amendment only applied to a militia and that meant the National Guard. Now, I know better. If you read below, you will see the analyses of the sentence structure provided by the 2nd Amendment Sisters. Also, any time the words "the People" is used in the framing documents, it refers to individuals and individual rights. This fact is lost on the rest of my family, so I decided to take a different tack. What is a militia?

After much searching over the past few years, a friend of mine on a discussion forum posted a link to the actual law defining a militia. I will quote it below, but it can be found HERE. I do have to thank the Cornell School of Law for providing a searchable database of Federal Law. The part we are concerned about (if you want to find it through an impartial reference) is US Code: Title 10, Subtitle A, Part 1, Chapter 13, § 311 which states: (bold/italics added for emphasis)

§ 311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

The other piece I wanted to quote was an answer to "Who is exempt from the militia?" This is covered by US Code: Title 10, Subtitle A, Part 1, Chapter 13, § 312

§ 312. Militia duty: exemptions
(a) The following persons are exempt from militia duty:
(1) The Vice President.
(2) The judicial and executive officers of the United States, the several States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
(3) Members of the armed forces, except members who are not on active duty.
(4) Customhouse clerks.
(5) Persons employed by the United States in the transmission of mail.
(6) Workmen employed in armories, arsenals, and naval shipyards of the United States.
(7) Pilots on navigable waters.
(8) Mariners in the sea service of a citizen of, or a merchant in, the United States.
(b) A person who claims exemption because of religious belief is exempt from militia duty in a combatant capacity, if the conscientious holding of that belief is established under such regulations as the President may prescribe. However, such a person is not exempt from militia duty that the President determines to be noncombatant.

So, what this means is that every able bodied man who is between the ages of 17 and 45 and every woman who is in the National Guard are members of the Militia unless they are exempted by § 312.

That means, I am a part of a well regulated Militia. Since a well regulated Militia is necessary for the security of this great nation and our freedoms, I have the right to keep and carry a firearm. This right will not be infringed. That is the Law. That is the Constitution. That is a right that is protected by the formation of this great country.

God bless the founding fathers.
God bless those fighting to keep our rights.
God bless Mr. Heller.
God bless the USA.