Such limits are never intended to "work".
They are just another tool to use for harassing and persecuting gun owners. Particularly middle-class and otherwise law-abiding gun owners. Government officials really do not want ordinary citizens to have firearms for any reason at all. The peasants might actually refuse orders from a government official for some reason or other.
They do not have enough minions to enforce their orders consistently, so they must be very selective in their efforts. Make yourself conspicuous and they will come after you with an over-the-top show of force and maximum publicity. Terror tactics is how they roll.
High-ranking Democrats and members of the violent criminal underclass will be effectively exempted from such rules, and any relevant charges will be dropped. This is what already happens today under current restrictions. Expect more of the same.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
from ‘Atlas Shrugged’, 1957