"Reasonable" provisions for CCW? It costs, even in the good Southern state of Tennessee, $200 for something that should cost NOTHING? Hell, I felt like the good state of Georgia RAPED me for the 44 bucks it cost me for FIVE years (I think it was $18 for a renewal last time I went in), so I can imagine how you, and those in other states with RIDICULOUS fees and hoops to jump through, must feel. Of course, it beats NOT being able to legally carry... but not by much. If I remember right, my dad had to pay around $300 for the "training" and permit in Texas. I wouldn't live in a state where the government ALLOWS me to have a carry permit ONLY if I've received government APPROVED "training" and they've extorted some ridiculously high TAX ($44 is too high, for that matter) from me. I didn't spend 13 years in the Corps training with weapons to have some government-approved goofball have to teach me how to use a firearm properly. It all comes down to scumbag politicians trying to have something, ANYTHING, to hold over our heads, AND as a way to TAX us in another, more creative way. The bastards.
You may be right about the feds thinking, at some point, that they need to create a country-wide system, similar to the way state driving licenses are recognized, when enough states get on board with CCW. However, I would think there are enough NOW, wouldn't you?
I agree that it should be free and that it's just another revenue-producer for government. Since my young kids live in Tennessee, I have no choice about where I'm going to live so I have to make do. For years, I carried without a permit and doing so in Tennessee (unless you're a felon) is only a misdemeanor with a $65 fine, but a friend of mine (who is, like you, "of the Corps") offered me the class for free at a school he owns, so all I actually had to pay for was the background check.
And, yes, I would think that there are already enough states to make a nationwide permit available. Politicians will be forced into it with the growing numbers og legally armed citizens.