how complicated could it be??
the reason i can't legally own a firearm is because I've been officially declared "not mentally competent enough to perform in the armed services" which means that I'm also "not mentally competent enough" to legally own a firearm, but the labeling was part of my psych-check, I'm not a total idiot
fair enough.
Recently, DC was forced to become a
"shall issue" instead of
"may issue" when it comes to carry permits. May issue means they
just might grant you a carry permit if you jump through all these hoops, know/bribe the right people, have several hundred dollars to toss around, sometimes all of the above. They could easily reject you if they just simply don't want you to have a permit. In some states, you have to identify just cause before they even consider your application. Self defense alone isn't enough. You have to be a business owner with assets to lose, or someone important. Even then, they could just reject you even if you have a squeaky clean record and are able to afford classes, jump through the hoops.
Shall issue means that, as long as you pass a background check, are able to legally purchase/own a handgun and can jump through whatever other arbitrary hoops they have set up, they
must issue you a carry permit by law, mandatory. You don't have to offer a reason why you want/need a carry permit, they just have to give it to you.
If you notice, a lot of those states that have a long, drawn out and exorbitantly expensive process of obtaining a carry permit are the ones with the most draconian and restrictive gun laws. The reason some of those hoops are setup is to make it prohibitively difficult for the majority of folks to acquire a carry permit, because they simply don't want people to carry guns at all...all while forgetting that criminals don't give a flying fuck about laws and will continue using and carrying guns regardless. Just look at Baltimore or some places in DC. The ones that will follow said laws aren't the ones you have to even worry about...
Criminals don't fear the law or prosecution, only fear potential victims that can and will fight back.
/rant