Lots of comments, lots of back and forth. I miss that.

Here are my personal beliefs around sensible gun laws.

When I bought my shotgun in 2002, Connecticut only required a permit for handguns. To purchase a rifle or shotgun, you had to be at least 18, fill out a state questionnaire, and then have a 5 day waiting period. Let me add that the questionnaire was idiotic. It actually asked if you were purchasing a weapon to commit a crime or to injure or kill another person. I read the question aloud and said to the gun shop owner, damn! Ya got me!

Things changed significantly after the Sandy Hook school killings. Now you must be 21 to obtain an eligibility certificate to purchase a gun. For certain hunting rifles an 18 year old can apply for the eligibility certification for long guns only. For both you must attend a state certified firearms safety course. The Commissioner of Public Safety issues the approval. This is done pending results of an FBI background check, which takes however long it takes, and requires you be fingerprinted. Upon receiving the report from the FBI, the Commissioner has to make a decision within 60 days.

In addition, the AR-15 and all the hundreds of competitor versions of the same rifle are banned from new sales. Anyone who had one before the ban was enacted had to register it with the state. Magazine capacity is limited to 10 rounds for both handguns and long guns. High capacity magazines are illegal. You also need a certificate to purchase ammunition.

I freely admit when these laws were proposed in 2013, I thought they were political grandstanding. I was wrong. They serve a purpose. While they wouldn't have stopped the Sandy Hook massacre - he used his mother's gun - having to wait over two months while submitting to an FBI background check would have prevented many of the subsequent mass shootings. Also cutting capacity from 30 rounds to 10 means the shooter has to change clips more often, increasing the possibility the gun will jam.

I would go further, if it was up to me. If it were possible, I would make it very difficult for a male to buy a gun before he turns 25. There's a reason why male car insurance rates are absurdly higher than females until their 25th birthday. If 18-24 year old men are measurably more reckless when operating an automobile, why entrust them with a gun? Yes, we arm 18 year olds in the military, but they have pretty intense training and supervision.

The late conservative Justice Alito wrote that like all rights, the Second Amendment is not limitless. The chances of national laws that resemble those in Connecticut are realistically not very good. But hopefully more states will tighten their laws. Connecticut, New York and California are examples of states who's strict laws have passed Constitutional muster.