My valid reason was because I went to clay pigeon shoot centres. Tricky isn't it!! If I went into American derp mode, I could say, "I want it for self defence, to shoot others", so application denied. The whole point of the gun debate is folk getting shot, stop giving them to clowns that will shoot others. Hence why Americans would fail and not own a gun in the UK, but us Brits enjoy using them, if they can interested/bothered to having one. I sold mine a few years ago because I infrequently go shooting now, but when I do, I just hire them. Do you get vetted/checked at the centre? Nope. Some centres give you all the cartridges in one go, other centres load the shotgun for you. They probably feel less collateral damage if a nut case went on a shooting spree with just two cartridges.
Are you gutted that gun safety is not sensible in the US like it is in the UK?