On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 06:26:46 -0600, Unquestionably Confused
Share with us your plan, regulation, law, whatever that will make you
feel comfortable with the ease (or lack thereof) of we poor commoners to
obtain a gun.

What should a law abiding citizen - or any citizen for that matter -
have to go through to be able to possess a gun?

I only have my Canadian experience of previously owning firearms when
I was a member of a local gun club. I (mostly) subscribe to the tenets
of what my firearms license demanded.

The requirements between owning a rifle and owning a hand gun were
different and still are. To own a hand gun (the two I owned were a .22
Browning Challenger and a Colt .45) I had to belong to a gun club. I
had to go through instruction and testing which took several weeks.

Once I passed all that and was approved, then I had to get an F.A.C.
(firearms acquisition certificate). I also had to get a transport
permit. (not carry permit, transport permit). Carrying was and still
is extremely illegal.

By owning a hand gun, the police could come by at any time (without a
warrant) and demand to see my guns, first to confirm that they were
there and second to confirm that they were responsibly stored.
Although, there was not one inspection in the ten or so years that I
was target shooting.

Which "citizens" should be barred from possessing a gun, PERIOD?

Just my opinion of course, but I'd say criminals with a conviction for
certain types of crimes. People who have been determined to have
certain mental aberrations.

In the end, I've always felt that it should be difficult (not
impossible) to obtain a gun or rifle. But then, I am a Canadian. I
might well feel differently in the US, but that also leads me to ask.
Would I want to live in a place where I was worried enough about my
safety to want a firearm on hand at all times?

The answer to that is Maybe. I suspect that many in the US are so
comfortable having guns around and in their lives, that it's just
second nature. Guess there's nothing much wrong with that, but then
there's those damned stats that appear to say that gun violence is
higher in the US than many other countries, certainly more that CA.