Mr gryphon: I fail to see how mandated licensing and training requirements places an undue burden on you. That sounds pretty wimpy to me. It does not restrict your rights whatsoever. What those policies do is acknowledge that guns by their very nature are deadly weapons. Before we entrust you with said weapon in a complex society, knowing that you as a human are subject to all kinds of frailty (mental and physical) and passionate moments, we would like to know that you are worthy of said trust. If your grandma wishes to be entrusted with this deadly weapon, then, yes, she should step up to the plate, get the training, and show proficiency and currency. That way we, her fellow citizens, know that when she carries, open or concealed, we can trust her to handle her weapon safely and competently. We can trust her to be that "good gal" with a gun. Otherwise there are many other ways to protect life and limb.
Yes, gun ownership is constitutionally protected. So is each citizen's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, free speech, freedom of religion, etc. The constitution tries to balance those rights. If we have a bunch of unregulated, incompetent wing nuts out there packing firearms, my rights have just been abridged. My life is threatened by their incompetence or craziness or criminality. I do not have liberty because I am not free to live my life in a secure, unabridged manner. I certainly cannot pursue happiness because they might go off and pull out a gun if I take the last bag of chips they wanted. If they take issue with my religion, or my speech, or any other of my constitutionally guaranteed rights, they may pull out a gun and take away my rights. So as their fellow citizen, I deserve some guarantees that they are a responsible gun owner.
That's what we're talking about, responsibility. I don't assume anything. I don't assume that you"re crazy or a criminal or anything else. But I also don't assume that you are competent and responsible either. "Trust but verify" comes to mind. I firmly believe in your right to carry, open or concealed. But before I trust you with that right, I deserve some guarantees of safety from you. The responsibility of competency, mental and physical, of safety, and of knowledge, falls on you the gun owner. Like driving, flying an airplane, operating heavy equipment, or using a scalpel, the responsibility falls on us, the gun owners, to show that we can be entrusted with the very lives of our fellow citizens. So don't quote BS about the constitution to me. As gun owners we should be willing to show that we can be entrusted with this very sober responsibility.
Mr Tuctom, is that enough of an answer for you?