I was 18 in 1968 and could drive around with my .22 rifle in my car with hardly a glance from the police. Bought bricks of .22s for target practice at hardware and liquor stores. America was much freer then.
I have to think that it was the under GWH Bush that things started to go down hill. Clinton certainly made it much worse, and W. didn't do anything to improve it.
In 1966 we would bring our shotguns to High School and leave them in our vehicles if we had planned on going hunting after school. Our principal knew this and the police knew this. Hell they could see them in the back window of our pickups. This was ordinary and not one of us would have even contemplated using our weapon in an illegal action.
When I went to University our dorm mother would keep our weapons for us in her quarters. If we went hunting or to the firing range we would check them out from her. When we returned we would take our weapon to our dorm room and clean them and then return them to the dorm mother whom would check them back into her quarters. This was in Louisiana.
Times have changed and much for the worse.
Same here. Walked into a store and bought a Marlin .22 while at college around 1970. We used to go down to the Missouri River bottoms for shooting with bricks of .22 ammo. No problem buying the rifle, the ammo, and nobody thought twice about me having it in my fraternity room.