[United States Code online is at: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ ] Originally posted 18 September 1990 Here are some sections from *current* US Code pertaining to the militia. You may want to incorporate this into letters you write to Congressmen, etc to remind them of how *federal law* defines "militia." You may also wish to point out that the semi-autos being banned are ideal militia weapons and are used by the US Army for civilian marksmanship training and competition. The definition of the unorganized militia would seem to match the requirement of the founders for ultimate power to be in the hands of the people. From the Federalist Papers and the debates about the adoption of the Constitution, it is clear that the founders intended the militia as a check against a standing army. As I usually do, I have reproduced the sections in a format as closely approximating the original law books as possible. Content, including punctuation, capitalization, line and word breaks is exact. I have not included the revision history or other notes. These sections are referred to as 10 USC 311, 10 USC 312, and 32 USC 313. ----- United States Code (USC) TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES Section 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, citi- zens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are commissioned of- ficers 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. Section 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 and Ter- ritories, Puerto Rico, and the Canal Zone. (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) Workers employed in armories, arse- nals, 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 mi- litia duty that the President determines to be noncombatant. TITLE 32--NATIONAL GUARD Section 313. Appointments and enlistments: age limitations (a) To be eligible for original enlistment in the National Guard, a person must be at least 17 years of age and under 45, or under 64 years of age and a former member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps. To be eligible for reen- listment, a person must be under 64 years of age. (b) To be eligible for appointment as an offi- cer of the National Guard, a person must-- (1) be a citizen of the United States; and (2) be at least 18 years of age and under 64. ----- The code books I got this from were in the Jonsson Library of Government Documents at Stanford. This library is a Government Printing Office Depository Library and is open to the public, unlike other Stanford libraries. They have lots of government books including congressional proceedings of various sorts. To get to Jonsson go in the front door of Green library and make a left, where right would take you into Green. Most universities and larger public libraries should have U.S. code books. Jeff Chan