Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.

Of them, about 700,000 were slaves.

The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

This means that when the Constitution (as amended by the
Bill of Rights) was ratified, it permitted fewer voting people than
live in about 16-17 states today.

It is the world's oldest surviving written constitution.
It's also the world's shortest, consisting of 4 pages.

One of the first Congressional authorizations was the raising of a
5,000 man "standing army". George Washington sarcastically agreed
as long as the enemy had an army of 3,000 or less. Thus the need for
a "militia".

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

Fast forward to today.

317 million citizens in 50 states. Slave ownership has been abolished.
Women can vote. Native Americans can vote.

Active duty military numbers around 1.4 million. Reserves number about
850,000.

New York City has over 7 times the number of police officers as the the
original "standing army" of the USA.

So what's all this talk about a "militia" ??????????