By Chad D. Baus

Recently, USA Today reported that a gang threat assessment compiled by federal officials estimates that criminal gangs in the United States have swelled to an estimated 1 million members responsible for up to 80% of crimes in communities across the nation.

Meanwhile, the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence has released its 2008 State Scorecards, which grade states on how they are regulating law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights, rather than criminals'.

By Jeff Knox

It has been famously said and often repeated that the Constitution means what the Supreme Court says it means. While this statement is generally true, it is incomplete. Regardless of what the Supreme Court says, the Constitution ultimately means what the People believe it to mean.

So far in our history the Supreme Court has refrained from any interpretation of the Constitution that was so flagrantly at odds with the beliefs of the People that a serious, violent uprising ensued. But they may have come perilously close in last year's decision in DC v. Heller. In that case the Court unanimously agreed that the Second Amendment refers to an individual right to arms, but disagreed in a 5 – 4 split as to whether the District of Columbia's virtual ban on handguns violated that individual right. Even in the prevailing opinion, the justices expressed positions which are completely at odds with the understanding of those of us in the Second Amendment community.