KR - I too remember.
I grew up in a small town in southwestern NYS and purchased my first .22 rifle at age 16. I went into the store, picked out what I wanted, paid cash, and took the rifle home.
The year was 1947.
We didn't have gun cases then, didn't need them. When we went hunting or target shooting the rifle, unloaded as all knew enought about how to be safe around firearms, was laid in the back seat of the car. You could walk anywhere including downtown with a rifle in your hands and no one would give you a second look. I know because I did it -- back then.
When I was 21 I was in a gun shop trying to get some help finding a serial number on a small H&R pistol with a 2 inch barrel that my grandmother gave to me. It was one of those old things that had been in the family for years and just kept, unloaded, in one of her cupboards. The clerk was looking all over the revolver when the Chief of Police came in, saw what we were doing, and told the clerk to look under the grips. No comment about where did that come from, who owns it, etc. Years later this type of handgun was call the "Saturday Night Special".
A buddy and I were major woodchuck hunters in our teens. And the area farmers not only welcomed us but would point out some of the best areas on their land to hunt on.
Yes KR, life was a lot less complicated them.
