Good answer. Just to claify a bit more for Phil, we have dual soveriegnty here in the US. That of the states and that of the federal government. In the early days, the bill of rights was held to be binding on the federal government but not on the states (most of which have their own bills of rights). Starting in the twenties, the Supreme Court started to apply the certain parts of the bill of rights to the the state's (called incorporation). This was done piecemeal, not whole cloth. Until last year the 8th ammendment prohibition on excesive fines and the 2A were the only ones not incorporated. Now after Heller, the 2A is as well, though its still new law so what a state can or can't do is still being worked out. It wil take a while before this is settled.
FQ13
I can't believe this got left standing for a month - the 2A is
NOT incorporated by Heller. Heller addressed the issue of the anti-gun ownership laws in Washington, DC. This was a special case that laid the foundation for future suits to incorporate, such as the CA suit that the 9th upheld. DC is not even a state and is under the direct control of Congress, with some autonomy granted for day-to-day affairs to a Mayor and City Council.
To answer fuzdaddy, the 9th said it applies, the 2nd and 7th (Chicago, surprise, surprise - NOT!!) Circuits said no it doesn't. Not being a SCOTUS groupie, I am not up on whether any of them have progressed to the point where it has actually been put on the SCOTUS docket for orals and deliberations.
The 9th is reputed to be the most overturned court, but their failure rate is not 100%.