Most pro-second amendment and pro-gun people would be quite happy with your suggestion of making gun ownership and lawful use in public as simple, easy, and routine as owning a motor vehicle and operating it in public. As a federally and provately trained and certified firearms safety instructor, I wish that it were as easy to buy guns as it is to buy cars.

I recently bought a new car. The process took about ninety minutes, including taking a test drive (something you don’t usually get to do when buying a gun), and going through the financing process. Other than the test drive and finance paperwork, the car buying experience took me less than half an hour.

Buying a gun takes at least as long. As a Californian, I have several steps that I must go through to purchase a firearm. First, I have to show them my safety card (this is equivalent to a driver’s license, in that it shows you passed a test proving you know how to safely use firearms. It is different from a driver’s license in that it costs more, and is not honored in all 50 states), then I have to provide proof that I have a safe or lock for the firearm (this is to show that you are being responsibe and know that you are liable in case of accidents, and is pretty much the equivalent of showing proof of insurance to buy a car). Then I have to fill out the paperwork for the feds, then for the state DOJ (that’s two levels of governmental oversight going on, instead of just one for cars), pay my fee, and submit to my criminal and mental health records background check (no such check is done when buying a car). This process generally takes 30 to 60 minutes. In addition, I have to wait for ten days before I can pick up my gun, and go through a lot of the same process again when I come in to pick it up, adding another 20–40 minutes. With the car, I was able to drive it off the lot the same day I bought it. If I had not opted for a test drive, and if I had paid for the car with either cash or my credit card, I would have been in and out in under 30 minutes.

As an aside — My last trip to the DMV for a license renewal, also took me less than 45 minutes. I made an appointment for a day and time when I was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be very busy, showed up early, and was seen early. I took my test, passed it, and finished my paperwork and photographs for the new license in about 40 minutes.

Talking about licensing for car ownership is a bit of a red-herring. You don’t need a license to buy or own a motor vehicle. You only need a license to use one on the public roadways. So under the “regulate guns as much as you regulate cars” plan, no gun buyer or owner would need to have any kind of background check, waiting period, or other bureaucratic nonsensse unless they wanted to carry it in public (open or concealed carry).

A drivers license costs a minimal amount, is available to anyone who passes a fairly minimal safety test, is good for a number of years, and is honored in every US state and territory. Concealed carry Licenses are expensive, often require extensive and costly testing, and are frequently only granted through a process of political favoritism/bribery.

Every time I purchase a firearm, I am required to pay the state of California for a background check that may or may not be performed. That fee — which I have to pay every time I buy a new firearm for my collection, or for use by my students — is more than what I pay for a driver’s license.

You can legally purchasse a motor vehicle in any US state or terrioty, without restriction. Currently, you may only legally buy firearms in your home state.

There are also no waiting periods for car purchases — this means that if you are visiting your relatives a couple of hundred miles form home, and see a car you like, you can buy ut there, that same day, and not have to make a special trip to return to the shop after a ten day waiting period in order to pick up your car.

If I don’t store or operate my car on public roads, I do not have to license it or register it. I can even transport it on public roads going to or from different areas of private property, where I can legally operate my vehicle. A Californian can legally own and operate a motor vehicle that does not meet California’s safety or emissions standrads, as long as they only drive it on provate roads (and in some cases, on public land, that is not considered a road or highway — such as off-road vehicle parks and trails).