What is a militia? I believe it includes every able bodied man under the age of 45 and additionally, any man who has retired or been released after some period of service in one of the branches of the military(army, navy, airforce, marines et.al.)up to the age of about 62. On the frontier it would have been ludicrous to have disarmed any man or family and stowed all the muskets or rifles in a warehouse as that would put him or them in danger of all sorts of enemies. So, it was and remains essential that the men must have their own guns and know how to use them and when called on, become part of the militia bearing those personal arms(notice that these guns are privatly owned and not forcibly procured with taxes).