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On top of this, unlike most of the Bill of Rights, the 2nd Amendment is not applicable to states and municipalities, although that might be changing.
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I have no idea what you mean by this quote. I assure you that neither the Supreme Court, nor any federal appellate court, has never ruled that states are allowed to pass laws that infringe upon a right protected under the Second Amendment.
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This is wrong.
The relevant part of that thread was my post a little further down. Basically, when the Bill of Rights was ratified, it was assumed to only apply to the federal government. Starting around 1925, the Supreme Court began employing the "
incorporation doctrine" by which the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment was interpreted to require the observation of portions of the Bill of Rights by States. This was done in a piecemeal fashion and as of this date the 2nd Amendment has not been included. This has been reaffirmed numerous times by lower courts including in the 1982 decision I linked earlier.
The bottom line is, the default is that States can infringe on portions of the Bill of Rights until the Supreme Court tells them not to. The Supreme Court has most definately ruled that States can infringe on 2nd Amendment Rights, most recently in
Presser v. Illinois:
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In Presser, the Court reaffirmed the Cruikshank decision that the Second Amendment acts as a limitation upon only the federal government and not the states. Cruikshank and Presser are consistently used by the lower courts to deny any recognition of individual rights claims and provides justification to state and local municipalities to pass laws that regulate guns.
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I guess my statement was a little strong, but you are relying far too heavily on the Wikipedia article you read for your "research."
I am a lawyer. I am familiar with the incorporation doctrine, though not the sparse case law dealing with the incorporation of the Second Amendment. In any case, your post implies that the Supreme Court has considered and declined to incorporate the Second Amendment. I don't believe that to be the case. Much of the relevant caselaw defining the scope of the incorporation doctrine was written post Presser. In any case, it doesn't matter. The real question is does the Second Amendment protect an individual right to bear arms. If the Supreme Court ever decides that the Second Amendment does protect an individual right to bear arms, I assure you that the second part of the opinion will state that states cannot infringe on that right and that the Second Amendment is incorporated.