What do you mean by licensed? At least in my state you can walk into walmart and buy all the assault rifles and ammo you can afford, with only a 3 day waiting period. If you have a concealed weapons permit there is no waiting period.
My dad bought an AR-15 a couple months back, but being my dad he had to get the carbine with collapsible stock and right after that they plugged the loophole in the law that allowed such a setup to be legal (you can't purchase short barrel assault rifles in the US). But then he paid a $200 fee and it was legal again. They don't give a fuck in South Carolina
You live in what gun owners in my state call a "free state." Being licensed is a requirement for ownership. Meaning it's mandatory to take a safety course and be subject to a background check conducted by the FBI. After you pay a fee to your local precinct, fill out some paperwork an wait about a month, you'll be given (depending on what you apply for) an LTC (license to carry) or an FID (firearms identification). Age is a factor as well. You have to be 21 for an LTC or 18 for an FID. The difference between the two is what your capable of owning. FID's are limited to rifles, shotguns and defensive things like pepper spray. An LTC allows you to own handguns, rifles, and shotguns (and even permits concealed carry of a handgun, which I'm registered to do but choose not to).
Finally, after wading through the bureaucratic red tape for the process of becoming licensed, my state is technically considered one of the worst states in America to own firearms in. Provided you're a freedom buff and don't like stupid restrictions placed on your guns. Like:
-No high capacity magazines, unless deemed "pre-banned" and a ten round limit to handguns.
-No flash suppressors or silencers on rifles. Muzzle brakes and compensators are legal but have to be installed and pinned in place so they can't be removed. Stock rifles come with a naked barrel in my state. Unless they're pre-ban, meaning they were produced before the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994.
-No collapsible stocks on rifles. All new stocks capable of collapsing must be pinned in place to prevent them from collapsing.
I find a lot of the restrictions meaningless. Like flash suppressors are banned because they apparently assist in concealment. But the shot of a rifle doesn't? And while the licensing process is a pain in the ass, I actually don't mind it. It helps weed out people deemed unfit for gun ownership