Welcome to MURRRCCAA!!!
I know the law in USA is strict and nicely built!
It is nicely built, but only to punish the laymen and let the powerful off the hook. It is appropriately named the "Criminal Justice System".
Well, if purchasing heavy artillery (an exaggeration) takes like 30 minutes, then handguns/pistols would be what, owned without a license at all? Just buy the thing and leave
Purchasing a handgun takes
weeks, but I can get an assault rifle in minutes.
EDIT: To expand a little,
I haven't owned an assault rifle since I was in the military (I have no use for one other than sport... which I got my fill of), but when I purchased my hunting rifle, I walked in, showed ID, filled out a form which they checked in a database and was on my way.
When I purchased my handgun, I paid a deposit on it, then filled out miles of paperwork, and waited... and waited... until the dealer contacted me saying I was approved. I then went back to the dealer, paid the remaining balance and picked up my new handgun.
Kind of backwards, no? The idea is that (as I remember when this legislation drew a lot of attention) handguns are concealed more easily, and so we REALLY need to control who has those. Assault rifles are so big that they are way less dangerous!
Here in MURICA, only good guys have the big guns