Who were the militia? Please go read a history book. The militia were ordinary citizens who joined the Continental army whenever it was fighting in their area. They brought their own weapons and took them home with them. And, by and large, they were the reason the American revolution was won at all. At the time of the writing of the Bill of Rights, most of the "military" in the American states were militia - volunteers who provided their own weapons and took them home with them when the battle was over.  http://www.constitution.org/cons/wellregu.htm