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refers to a class of persons who are part of a national community or who have otherwise developed sufficient connection with this country to be considered part of that community.

That's what "the people" means, eh? I'd say that people meeting that classification include my wife (non-citizen female), brother (over 45), nieces & nephews (four under 17), parents (way over 45), along with a few hundred million other people who don't fall into your 15% category. You'll be hard pressed to explain why all of them have failed to "have otherwise developed sufficient connection with this country to be considerred part of that community."

I think you just flame-roasted your own argument there, RP.

First, if they don't/can't vote, then there's no way they are "part of a national community or who have otherwise developed sufficient connection with this country".

Second, that 15% figure was a 1792 percentage -- it was Madison's estimate of the size of the militia. Given that blacks, women, and those as young as 18 are now allowed to vote, that percentage today is much higher.