The 14th Amendment expressly provides that “Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” States were not granted enforcement power. Has Congress enacted any legislation to enforce the 14th Amendment?
Indeed. I think the 14th is being treated a bit like the 2nd.
“Shall not be infringed”? Oh, I’m going to interpret that as “I can infringe in about a thousand different ways, because guns are bad, m’kay?”
The 14th depends on congressional action? Oh, I’m going to interpret that as “I’m an important state official, so I can do what I want”.