To start: I own a gun. It's nothing fancy, it's just a pump action shotgun. I keep it locked up in the bedroom. I got it because there are a lot of shootings in the city near where I live and I wanted to know I could potentially fend off an armed intruder in my home.
You can interpret that as you will. I will never deny that guns have a positive feedback loop on themselves. The knowledge that other people might have a gun, is the reason I felt I needed to have one. It was that simple and straightforward: I'm not about to try and fight bullets with a baseball bat.
To buy that shotgun it took under two hours. I went to the store, had a background check, and bought the weapon. I also bought ammunition- same place, same time.
Was it simple?
Yes. It was very, very simple. For long-guns, there are very few restrictions in my state. Buying a pump action shotgun, or a low capacity semi-automatic rifle, is not difficult.
Do I think it should be more difficult?
Well, I'm completely mixed on this subject. To some degree, yes- I'd probably sleep better at night if I knew crazies who had a clean background couldn't easily purchase a weapon in such a simple manner.
At the same time, I have to be honest. A pistol is extremely difficult to purchase in my state- and those are the weapons people can conceal easily. The other thing you have to acknowledge in the states is that the only difference between a legal purchase of a firearm and an illegal purchase of a firearm is money and risk.
If someone is a criminal, they can still get a gun. They could break into someone's house and steal one- they could pay an extra grand to purchase one off of someone who needed the money, and then that person could just report it stolen and play dumb. Hell, they could simply have a family member/friend give them one.
The guns are already here. It's not like most countries in the EU.
These weapons are in homes, cars, holsters on hips, carrier concealed or simply in a bag heading towards a shooting range. America has a lot of guns- and they don't go stale and moldly like bread. Most will probably keep working for a long, long time if properly maintained.
So, I really have to wonder: What the shit is gun control honestly going to do about the circumstances in the US? You're not about to see people hand their weapons over to the police when they've purchased them legally. You're not about to expect criminals to give them up either. Once tougher policies go into effect, the weapons will still be functioning for generations.
The guns are already here, and the market runs on supply and demand. Take away the legal supply, and the demand is going to just find another place to get them. Buying them from the store isn't the only option to get one, it's just the most visible and legal means.