The Second Amendment as I understand it applies to individuals, not states. It is an express Constitutional right granted to individuals, and IMHO the states are bound by it as a fundamental right granted to individuals. But as for regulation of our individual rights, and restrictions that various states have placed on those rights -- this is where I believe we have ceded huge amounts of territory from the original intent of the Founders, so much so that what we currently have in place bears little resemblance to what they had in mind.
But pragmatically, it is what it is, so we do the best we can with where we find ourselves today. The Supreme Court decisions of the past have led to the battleground for such rights being fought on a state-by-state basis, and slowly but surely, the battles in the courts have turned increasingly in favor of RKBA liberties (in most states). So even though I don't consider this the ideal, it is where we find ourselves today.
No it isn't. The Constitution does not "grant" rights. Only liberals and statists would think otherwise. The Constitution is there to limit government and protect rights, both delineated and undeliniated.
I have no idea what that means.
First off, how have we ceded huge amounts of territory from the original intent of the Founders? Are you talking about all the Supreme Court rulings that said that the second amendment only applies to the federal government?
Secondly, if you're citing original intent of the Founders, then that certainly leaves out the 14th amendment (which occurred 100 years later), the amendment which supposedly applied the second amendment to the states.