It sounds not a lot worse than some of the more restrictive cities for handgun ownership and carry permits here, like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
YES you should buy it. Heck, I've never seen one in person. Snubbies are my personal favorite and you can shoot the heck out of this one while you continue your search for the common 4-incher!
Definitely buy the piece if you can. I paid a little under $750 shipped for my NIB example a while back and you couldn't get it from me for anything less than $1,000 today! It's main function for me is a low-cost trainer for my carry snubs. It's secondary function is to provide me with seemingly limitless plinking fun
Really, they are more accurate than you'd think and can burn through a brick of ammo before you even know what happened Definitely a high quality piece. They don't make them like that anymore and they never will again.
Have a 2" 34 and love the little bugger. Bought it ANIB for $500.00 and it's not going anywhere besides my safe and hip. It's just plain fun to shoot and an accurate revolver for a snub to boot.