About thirty-five years ago I did a lot of target shooting (and outdoor plinking) with a few friends, all of whom were heavily into gun safety, fortunately. We were all NRA members. There is a large faction of NRA members who are convinced that someday our government will turn tyrannical and we'll all have to unlimber our deer rifles and target pistols and take the government back. Without actually speculating on the likelihood of that actually happening, that's why the more hard-charging NRA members (which includes the offficers of the organization) are so adamant about objecting to anything vaguely resembling a law having to do with firearms. A bit of incipient paranoia, perhaps.
When I learned to drive, I took a two week course offered by the Automobile Club of America, after which I was thoroughly checked out by one of their instructors. Then I had to take a drivers' test. Then I got my license to drive. When I bought my first gun, I walked into Central Gun Exchange in downtown Seattle and told the man what I wanted. He checked my ID, made a phone call ("no wants or warrants"), and gave me the gun. I wrote him a check and that was that. He didn't know if I even knew which end the bullet came out of.