Madison: Federalist No. 46, on the makeup of the militia:

[jimmy the one]

5. 1790 census & madison's dream

nyc skp: He mentions 500,000 militia members at a time when the total U.S. population was under 4 million. The first census in 1790 was just under 4,000,000.
When he mentions 500,000, or more than 1/4 of the entire population, Madison is referring to virtually all adult men.

No he's not, since all free white adult males circa 1888 = ~800,000; he's likely excluding aged white males & certainly excluding slaves from the 4 million;
Madison is 'probably' referring to adult white males over 16 & less than aged (~45) - those more physically capable of fighting, & not yet aged (which later became rules for the militia law of 1792, 4 yrs after Madison wrote)

Free white males 16+; FWM <16; FW-women; All other Free; Slaves; Total
1790:.. 807,094 .......791,850...1,541,263(women)...59,150...694,280..3,893,635
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_Census

skp: Yeah, this was never about a trained and formal militia, it was about armed citizens who would be armed but could also be called to serve.

You're part right, but Madison's 'dream' was for those armed citizens to be gung ho patriotic about it & thus become a 'well regulated militia'; he couldn't foresee free white males rejecting his militia dream.
Yet you didn't remark on your gaffe about Madison referring to the 2ndA, nearly 4 years prior to it being written: nyc skp: I submit that he {Madison} refers to regular folks who are otherwise engaged full-time in ordinary careers and are enjoying their Second Amendment rights.

Uh, Madison couldn't've been suggesting that, since Federalist No. 46 by James Madison.. published on Jan 29, 1788 was nearly 4 years before the 2nd amendment was written.