We don't actually distribute them willy nilly either, but we are allowed to buy them if we are good boys and girls.
And how do you define "good boys and girls"? Do you have to attend a mandatory course on gun safety and stress management? Do you have to pass a test to prove yourself capable of using a gun under considerable stress without incident? No, you only have to be an adult, without a record, and patient enough to wait, what, two weeks or something? This still counts as willy-nilly.
If one had to prove oneself not to be a total boob around guns before being allowed to have one, I would soften a bit on the matter. But the current regulations are ridiculous.