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I also used to be paranoid about NFA registration (I still am vehemently against it), but reality is if in some crazy scenario the feds decided they needed to confiscate my NFA items, well that really sucks and is bullshit. But, that’s only a fraction of what I own, so I’m not going to be left gunless. Additionally, it’s not hard to do the paperwork and just not have any issues with the ATF. I’ve never talked to a LEO about my guns, ever, and I’ve had NFA items for many years at this point. If you’re concerned about dumb shit like shouldering (ATF dumb, not you), then just don’t do that at a public range (I have many times without issue by the way). Bottom line, NFA is unconstitutional bullshit, but it’s not a crazy process and owners of NFA items by and large have no issues in practical application.

Irony.

Politicians and pundits having been calling for acquisition reform for decades. Having worked in that world I've seen only marginal changes, until yesterday. Hegeseth dropped a bomb on the system and wants to end the 8(a) contract system. If this happens it will shake up a lot of things in the "business." There is a simplified definition of 8(a) contracts below which basically states these are set aside contract for supposedly small disadvantaged businesses and tribes. What started as an effort to help groups like Indian tribes turned into a yet another way for people to make money doing nothing. Most of these contracts were awarded to companies in name only, owned by a wife with enough native American blood to qualify, a huge fee was taken then they subcontract it to another company or consulting firm. I dealt with several range management contracts that were exactly like this. I am not in favor of everything he has done but this is a good step towards reform and getting the most of the taxpayers dollars spent on defense. His full statement is below. "When President Trump appointed me as your Secretary of War, I made you a series of promises. I promised that every single one of your taxpayer dollars would go toward one thing and one thing only: building the most lethal fighting force on the planet. And I promised we would gut the corruptive, unconstitutional, non-merit-based DEI programs that have weakened our military and distracted us from our primary mission. And I promised we would hunt down the waste, the fraud, and the abuse that has run rampant in this department for decades, and to instead redirect that money to President Trump's America First priorities. Well, today we are once again taking action on these promises. We’re actually taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government, a program few people outside of Washington have ever heard of, that I hadn’t heard of. It’s called the 8(a) program. Now, if you're like me, you're asking yourself what is an 8(a)? It’s a great question. 8(a) refers to the Small Business Administration’s program to assist "small disadvantaged businesses owned by a socially disadvantaged individual or tribe." Providing these small businesses with opportunities is a laudable goal. But over the decades, as it happens, the 8(a) program has morphed into swamp code words for DEI race-based contracting. And here’s the worst part: in many, many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses, they don't even do work. They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the top and then pass the contract off to a giant consulting firm, commonly known as "Beltway Bandits." For decades, this program—8(a)—has been a breeding ground for fraud. And this administration is finally doing something about it. The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, recently exposed half a billion dollars in 8(a) fraud. Treasury, led by Secretary Bessent, found another quarter billion, and their investigation is just beginning. Treasury, Justice, and the Small Business Administration under Administrator Loeffler are all actively investigating their 8(a) contracts right now. Now, in the Pentagon, $100 million sole-source contracts go out the door to these 8(a) firms almost every day. One hundred million dollar sole-source contracts go out our door to these 8(a) firms almost every day without any competition or opportunity for anyone else to bid. The Department of War is required by law to do almost a hundred billion dollars’ worth of contracts per year with small businesses, including 8(a) firms. Seems 8(a) is quite important. But we're not required to pay enormous brokerage fees only to have these firms pass those contracts along to giant consulting companies, and we won't. We're not doing this anymore. So effective immediately, I’m ordering a line-by-line review of every small-business sole-source 8(a) contract that is over $20 million. And we’ll look at everything smaller than that too. The Department of War has the biggest chunk of 8(a) spending by far, ten times more than any other agency. So our cleanup, it’s going to be ten times tougher. It’s a two-stage mission. First, if a contract doesn’t make us more lethal, it’s gone. We have no room in our budget for wasteful DEI contracts that don’t help us win wars, period, full stop. Second, we’re doing away with these pass-through schemes. We’ll make sure that every small business getting a contract is the one actually doing the work, and not just some shell company funneling your money to a giant consulting firm. This approach is of course not meant to hurt small businesses, and that's not the point. America’s full of great, amazing small businesses. This is part of a larger effort to transform our acquisition ecosystem into one that makes sense for the threats we face in the 21st century. I gave a long speech about this back in November. Our goal is to spend your money to build our defense industrial base with businesses, large and small, that share our mission, not to line the pockets of Beltway fraudsters or to advance the agenda of DEI apologists. Only lethality, and we’re going to look at every single contract."

I may be a little paranoid, but I understand some have had the fact that they already have a registered NFA item used against them in a subsequent court case involving an unregistered NFA item. Basically, "you should've known better" Mr. Mejia from what I found got the extra smack down for his SBR because he already owned a registered suppressor. The other lesson is to be careful who you invite to the range to shoot with you. https://saf.org/fbi-atf-arrest-of-florida-man-for-unregistered-short-barrel-rifle-showcases-absurdity-of-nfa/ Let's face it with the pistol brace vs stock and the frankly vague definition of "designed to be fired from the shoulder" the ATF has a lot of latitude to make ones like miserable depending on the administration in power.

I remember buying my first (multi-cal) thinking this’ll cover the calibers I care about, don’t need anymore suppressors. Ha, was I wrong!

This 1000%. The biggest downside is that I'm now annoyed when I shoot guns that aren't threaded. Especially now being $200 cheaper, you can get an ok silencer for $500 and a good one for $1K. Your only regret is going to be that you didn't buy one earlier.

I’m not really sold on the software even being improved. I’ve met too many doctors who obviously can crush academics, but in the real world are pretty retarded and lack critical thought/ability to adapt off script. The medical community is right up there with big pharma in my book of “people I don’t trust.”

Why not!? You’re missing out, big time

How DOJ Just Ended a 99-Year-Old Gun Law Great news if it sticks. It's almost impossible to ship a firearm if you're not an FFL anymore.

I was told April/May was a safe bet for earliest PCSs and that the initial training schedule for 2026, which I’m assuming is the IPT schedule , is not expected to come out until February. Based on the reply that justwanttofly received, maybe they got the schedule nailed down quicker than expected. Perhaps they’re trying to get assignments rolling prior to a potential gov shutdown on the 31st.

Case in point, I went TDY to my first ops squadron a little over 4 years after I left it. Other than a nametag on the wall in the bar, there was zero visible evidence I was ever there. And honestly, while slightly humbling, that's the way it should be. Even as a commander, if you are truly irreplaceable, then you've failed.

Sounds like me when the bride and I are watching TV. Drives her nuts.

yep, doing the same here!! By the way, not only does the license plate frequently change, the right rear brake light does the same!!

Just want to let y'all know, one of my buddies received a RIP today with a RNLTD of 31 Aug to Laughlin and training starting in Oct. He may have gotten a RIP because of a humanitarian thing he's going through but just wanted to give y'all something to look forward to....look for those RIPs soon. I asked where did his RIP come from and he said his front office and probably because of the humanitarian thing.

We all need to stop pretending like this is some sort of new phenomenon. The Doctor who discovered germs was ridiculed to the point of being declared insane, and dying because of it. Doctors have never been particularly accommodating to change, because doctors are just humans with a higher capacity for knowledge retention and association. But that improved software is still running on the same dumb ape hardware. If anything, doctors are even more stubborn and willing to kill people due to their pride than normal people. Too much ego. Don't make friends with doctors. Especially the young ones. The horror stories you will hear about how many people die in hospitals because of senior citizen doctors refusing to retire is absolutely terrifying.

That was amazing. Adding that to my movies review channels (pitch meetings, honest movie trailers, and the critical drinker).

What drives a supposed doctor who is training to follow science to such a woke response. Saying a yes no answer is political. What is wrong with saying a biological man can't give birth? I fully accept that people identify as the opposite sex...there is likely something physical driving those thoughts and you are free to be who you want in the land of the free...but you can't give birth and you should not compete against biological women.

And at the same time, they wonder half the country isn't listening to them since they're the "experts". Zero humility, zero accountability when they're wrong. And in the last 6 years they don't even seem capable of admitting that they were wrong, instead they double down on what is clearly stupidity. There was a point that doctors thought smoking was just fine. They admitted they were wrong and fixed it. If that were today, you'd have those same doctors recommending to smoke 3 packs a day.

Yeah, the livery could be better. Dark grey like the A350 concept would work better with standard type for the US AIR FORCE or alternatively a MATS heritage livery…

The NTSB did an update to the crash investigation. It appears that the aft spherical bearing race was cracked in half at the grease groove which caused excessive movement of the aft pylon mount.

Naw man, I think those dudes got sick of opposing view points and retreated to their safe spaces. Or they created burner accounts because they identify as being pussies.

Looks like a war crime to me

If you think your unit (or larger organization) is fucked without you, you have been misled. Everyone is a replaceable cog, including every single black border pipe hitter. Take pride in the good things you accomplish in your career, work hard at what matters, but don’t think for a second you’re the lynch pin that holds the whole thing together - you’re not. Operate with that mentality and you’ll be much less stressed and happier.

USAF 787

My bad....he is FROM New York...which explains even more. In other news there is movement on Machine Guns.