soz I was reading the relevant wiki pages as a starter on all this, so bear with and correct any misinformation (or incorrect interpretation, as I do go to public school), but is the reason the 2nd ammend has to be incorporated bc of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_%28Bill_of_Rights%29#Amendment_II
Is Louisiana the root of all this?!?!?
I would like to think of it as empowering the memory of the Founders and the Continental Army
Pretty much. Louisiana was also the source of Plessy v. Fergusson in which the Supreme Court declared that separate could be equal. That is why you had black schools and white schools and water fountains "for whites only".
It looks like Wiki is a little behind the times. On Sept. 28, 2009, the US Supreme Court granted writs in the McDonald v. Chicago case to specifically address the 2nd amendment incorporation issue. Instructions from the court were to only address that specific issue. Likely there will be a narrow decision in our favor, but the question of the standard that a law must meet to pass constitutional muster will likely be an ongoing struggle.