[August]

Originally Posted by Nippelspanner

I think there should be limits to who owns them and how easily they are distributed/obtained

There are such limits already.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/blnoguns.htm

The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits certain people from possessing a firearm. The possession of any firearm by one of these "prohibited persons" is a felony offense. It is also a felony for any person, including a registered Federal Firearms Licensee to sell or otherwise transfer any firearm to a person knowing or having "reasonable cause" to believe that the person receiving the firearm is prohibited from firearm possession. There are nine categories of persons prohibited from possessing firearms under the Gun Control Act:

• Persons under indictment for, or convicted of, any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding on year;
• Fugitives from justice;
• Persons who are unlawful users of, or addicted to, any controlled substance;
• Persons who have been declared by a court as mental defectives or have been committed to a mental institution;
• Illegal aliens, or aliens who were admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa;
• Persons who have been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces;
• Persons who have renounced their United States citizenship;
• Persons subject to certain types of restraining orders; and
• Persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

With limited exceptions, persons under eighteen years of age are prohibited from possessing handguns.