How many of you who are not convicted felons are not legally permitted to own possess and use a firearm?
Me.
I just moved to Georgia.
I can't carry a handgun concealed because GA paperwork hasn't gone thru its 3 month processing time and I pay for the priviledge.
I can't carry a handgun openly because GA environmental law (!) forbids it.
I can't bring my Class III item to GA until the BATFE grants permission to do so, weeks of paperwork.
I can't carry anything most places because most destinations/trips include GA-defined "public gatherings" where mere possession is prohibited - unloaded locked in trunk in parking lot included, so the entire trip (I travel >100 miles per day) must legally be disarmed.
I can't carry in NY anymore because, despite having had a fully legal CCW permit, moving out-of-state invalidates that paperwork - disarming my monthly 2000-mile round-trips, as possession at the destination is now illegal.
I can't possess a standard military weapon (M16/M4) because post-'86 ones are illegal and pre-'86 ones have been priced into oblivion and are wearing out.
I can't fire guns on my own property, no matter how safely. Simply forbidden within city limits.
Now with all that in place, you will respond...
"Well, just wait a bit and you'll have paperwork & permission in place." Too late: my family suffered a dog attack two days ago - thanks to bureaucratic delays, I was legally disarmed. Dogs & thugs don't care that your paperwork hasn't gone through yet. Odds are that you won't need it during that "reasonable delay" - but statistics mean nothing when it happens to you ... or me last Monday.
"You can still own handguns." Fat lot of good they do me locked up in the safe, waiting for state permission to take them out.
"You can carry a long gun." Technically legal - explain it to the judge. Police & community won't be putting up very long with some guy strolling thru malls, grocery stores, gas stations, etc. with an M1 slung over his shoulder. In Buffalo NY a guy trying this was nailed for "disturbing the peace" and jailed accordingly. Social aversion to openly heavily armed folks is so great that you WILL get caged for violating some of a myriad of hazily-worded laws.
"You can buy a machinegun (aka: standard modern military arms)." The norm in this nation is the M16 - which runs for more than 10 times its natural price, IF you can find one for sale, and even then it's well-used, and that upon months of paperwork and hundreds of dollars. Yes, it's conceivable to obtain what the Founding Fathers intended citizens own - but being limited to >20-year-old tools at 10x their natural price is defacto prohibition. That something is conceivably possible under extraordinary efforts does not justify the theory - we're talking practical exercise of RKBA, not nuanced semantics.
"So move already, say to Vermont." Since when does the USA Constitution apply to varying degrees depending on state? How does "shall not be infringed" - especially when incorporated to the states by the 14th (?) Amendment - mean I lose my right to CCW just because I switched states and some paperwork is delayed? Does "equal protection" not apply? Does "full faith and credit" not apply?
"Well, you DO own guns, right? So there." I can only own what the state and feds allow me to. I can't own a new M4 - despite it being the standard infantry weapon. I can't carry anything without permission and according to strict guidelines (no pistol merely shoved in pocket, GA only allows carry in belt or shoulder holsters - with proper paperwork approved, of course). By this precedent, there isn't much stopping the feds/state from declaring the only arms allowed are muskets, broken down and stored at the police station - that's keeping regulated arms, right?
"If you want to practice shooting, go somewhere it's allowed." 'scuze me? We're talking safely on private property. Noise won't be a problem once I get a suppressor. Safety won't be a problem given a proper backstop (or ventilated basement). No, I'd have to go pay someone to let me shoot on their property. State/federal parks/forests? Not in Georgia - verboten.
And all that is in one of the more permissive states.
The Founding Fathers had "minutemen" in mind when the penned the 2nd Amendment: citizens armed with standard military weapons, deployable in 1 minute flat. That goal has certainly been "infringed", when one must beg the state's permission to do so (for simple carry of a mere pistol), and instead of modern military arms (a new M4 for ~$800) the whole nation of 300,000,000 citizens must haggle over a few thousand >20-year-old M16s at outrageously inflated (as natural consequence of infringing law) prices.
I have submitted to multiple background checks, fingerprinting, paperwork, fees, reviewed by states, counties, and national bureacracies, spent countless hours studying the laws, have no criminal history - and I can't carry a legal handgun just because of MORE paperwork.
I have a problem with that. Do you?