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FWIW, this was part of a larger sanction package- though a weak one- from the administration against Russia.  They probably just went to every agency for input on sanction targets that won't upset American or EU business interests.  Putting these firearms into the list pisses of nobody but shooters who wanted them specifically, so it was an easy add.   Russian made (or financed) ammo will come sooner or later unless the Ukraine situation is resolved.  American ammo manufacturers won't mind that since it would remove a serious competitor in the ammo market.

  I can take care of that.  PM inbound.

  I'm of the opposite mind with that.    Slapping an tax specifically created for firearms is a helluva infringement (of the "shall not be" variety) to me.  $200 isn't much of a problem today- especially if you can afford to put together a good SBR- but in 1934 that amount would be $3,550 today when you adjust for inflation.  The difference between a 16" rifle and <16" one isn't affordable with that extra cost for many, and it represents a deterrent even if someone has the money on hand.  It was absolutely meant to use the commerce clause to dissuade ownership when it was adopted.   At least with the processing time, I can see why there is a delay and blame incompetent management instead of a legislative end run to limit rights.  There are only so many applications a person can sort through in a workday and do it properly.   When I see that number of 163,691 they processed in 2013 , I can absolutely understand how their relatively small office can get swamped and bogged down.   There are what, around 15 examiners to handle all those requests?  That's over 45 packets a day each examiner had to process (based on a 48 week year, and 5 days a week on the job to try and account for vacations and holidays).  For the staff they have on hand, they are moving at a respectable pace.   Should they use the funding that comes from those applications to hire more workers to reduce the wait time?  Of course.  That seems to be what is happening based on their email back in April, but we all know they could hire more and get it down to say, 30 days.  ATF could even contract positions out to HR firms as temp work to clear the backlog and deal with any spikes in applications.  That would lessen the burden on the civil service system and give you a nice pool to collect resumes from if a .gov slot opens up. The money is there to handle it, when they collect the tax up front you can make it a pay as you go system, but that's a bureaucratic limitation more than a political move in my eyes.   The $200 tax was intended to be a limitation on owning NFA weapons, so I'm much more irate with that on principle.

  Ugly and I may agree on nothing politically, but it seems we both grill ribs along similar lines. Though I don't always use sauce.    Be careful not to overdo the dry rub.  Sometimes large grain black pepper and a few other things are all you need.  Keeping it simple can pay off.  If you have quality meat, you don't want to waste that natural flavor. 

nicemac, I sent you an email through my gmail address.  I've done some backend stuff for web based interfaces in the past and the CHMR.us site doesn't look that hard to manage at a glance.  If you need someone to pick up the baton and keep running with it, let me know.

The details are good investigative work, but the intent of the Haslam administartion and the end result were known well before this.  Control over the process, money for the state coffers so they don't have to cut elsewhere or raise revenue another way...take your pick for the reaseon.  The bottom line is that bill was killed in a backroom meeting before any vote took place.

  No, not the the CQM course (though I wish I could have done that one).  Asymmetric Warfare Group was the lead for the CAT-C course.  We didn't shoot M4's closer than 25m, and that was just to get on paper for the zero- we zeroed at 100 and then 200 meters, and to practice the standing position for shooting.   I mentioned it because of your comment about the Army needing to get out of it's square range mindset.  We were shooting slick, then we mixed in moving, then doing it with kit, doing barrier shooting, off side shooting, I even learned the roll-over prone position.  I wish we had more time with the M9, but the entire course was only a week long.    The course was awesome.

  DMark, were you familiar with the CAT-C training program?  I went through it in 2007 at Fort Campbell, and it was without a doubt the best long gun training I've ever had.  We spent about a half day on pistol as well, and even that small amount of time was of immense value given the caliber of instruction and cadre.

  Really, "most of those movers"?  What statistics led you to that sweeping generalization?    I did my homework since I was paying for the moving services out of pocket instead of the military handling the bill.  This was an advertised company that I paid with my credit card, who do moves on government contracts for Fort Campbell's personal property office, and they're BBB accredited with an A+ rating.  I'd bet the guys who came to pack up my apartment were legit hourly workers.

  The FAQ on the NFA site said that in 2013 they had to process 163,691 applications.  At $200 a pop, that comes out to $32.7 million dollars in revenue.    Concur that there is no way any administration- from either party- is going to give up that money

  So then why the "I'm a 2%'r.  98% of my wages go to taxes." comment?  Did I miss something that didn't translate over the internet?       I'm more liberal than the average member of this site, but even I know that you have to work to get ahead.  The last 8 1/2 months I've been unemployed while getting ready for and going to school represent the first time I've been without a job since I was 14 years old.  It still feels weird, but I wanted to make sure I had every chance to get used to being a student since my savings could cover me in the interim.  I have an internship now and will probably get a part time job sometime in the fall or winter for the extra cash.     To me, if someone is willing to put in full time work (40 hours a week), that should not equal a salary below the poverty line.  If they hold up their end of the bargain and give an honest day on the job, I truly believe they have kept up their part of the societal bargain.  If they aren't willing to work to earn their keep, then you can talk about those who thrive on the tit of the almighty .gov.   I remember when I had movers come to pack up my apartment and take everything into storage before I went to Afghanistan for a year as a contractor.  It was the day after the 2012 election and all three of them were jubilant that President Obama had won re-election.  In conversation they flat out admitted they were afraid a Romney administration would gut things they needed to survive, like food stamps, and that decided their vote.  If anybody thinks that movers don't work hard enough, or aren't willing to do things most will not, I don't know what to tell you.  They still needed help to keep their heads above water in these times.   There are plenty of people who are working and willing to work out there.  Our economy just isn't able to give all of them the work they need to survive without some help the way it is today.  It's a shame that we've let it get way, but globalization is a bitch.

A plain cheese pizza from Mafiaoza's.  My three toppings are three beers, but those don't get added until they mix in my stomach. :yum:

  It was designed to give "the people" a way to request things from the government.  One of the things the current administration put into place as a PR thing mostly.  At first, you only needed 5,000 signatures to equate an official response from the the appropriate government agency.  Then it increased to 25,000, and finally 100,000 once they started having to comment on some absolutely stupid things.    It will probably leave a cookie on your computer, who knows, maybe from the NSA.  It will also result in zero happening on changing NFA items...no matter how many signatures you get.

  Nailed it, graycrait.   I got out in '09 and there wasn't anything I'd call "training" with the M9.  The ranges were either a paper target at 25 meters or pop-up targets from about 5 to 30 meters.  We called the pop-up range an "officers qualification" since you were issued more rounds than targets.  For more detail about it, you can read the Army FM about it- http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_23x35c3.pdf. Everything I knew about pistol shooting, one of our NCO's taught me at a private range with our own pistols.   And yeah, no matter what pistol the Army has, it will get worn down fast.  That PFC or Specialist who sits in the arms room all day will be dicking around with them out of boredom, it will be issued to people who won't care for it properly and only see it as a way to get out of carrying an M4 on the FOB, and all other kinds of neglect since nobody has to buy them out of pocket.

I swung my first club as a teenager sneaking onto the local golf course with some friends to play two holes before closing.  I had a few clubs I got at a yard sale and carried them in a baseball bag since I didn't have a full set of clubs with a bag.  I've loved golf ever since.  I've just never had the time for it.   Played some in the Army, but never anything consistent.  Working as a contractor overseas it was a non-starter.  I took Beginning Golf as a PE elective last month through MTSU.  Four days a week at the practice area at Old Fort Golf Course with a few days at the Go USA Fun Park driving range.  I saw decent improvement in practice, but I was never able to get in on the side games of nine holes some in the class organized with other class commitments taking up my time.  It's been a long time since I was able to get in a full round, or even nine holes.   It's very enjoyable and good exercise if you walk the course.  Though I do use the push carts for my bag instead of carrying them when I walk.  If I had the time, money and enough days under 75-80 degrees, I'd be out on the golf course all a good bit.

As others have stated, you can't define middle class nationally.  In some places, you can't even define it by state.  The underlying factors that determine poor, middle class and rich are highly speculative and I'm sure not everybody will agree with them.  I really think there could be more levels to determine things, but this is America, and more than three choices on a sliding scale is pushing our attention span.  It also helps the politicians from all parties say they want to protect the middle class and help those who are poor reach the middle class.   Tennessee is a good place as any to make what's left in the value of your dollar go as far as it can without being in a place that is depressing to live in.  I chose to settle here while I go to school (on the GI Bill, so I guess I'm one the 47% leaches living from Uncle Sugar :rolleyes: ) and I chose Tennessee to keep my out of pocket costs as reasonable as can be while I work on earning a degree.       Are you saying that out of ever $100 you get you only are keeping $2? 

  Pretty smooth, all things considered.  It was a little slow, but I doubt ATF has the whiz kids doing web development on the back end.  Also, I was working on it at about 2:30am EST, which is a legitimate time for server updates and general maintenance.   If you have the required info jotted down in front of you, or on an open document to read from as you type, it took me about 10-15 minutes.  Make sure an updated copy of your trust is ready since you have to upload it as an attachment.   This guide from ar15.com helped a lot.  Just take it box by box and you'll be fine.

Used eforms to submit Form 1 for my future SBR.  Confirmation email received & $200 tax stamp payment shows as pending in my trust's checking account.

The M9 isn't as bad as everybody makes it out to be.  I've heard every rumor under the sun as to why the U.S. Army uses it, but at the end of the day, troops aren't assaulting the objective with only a pistol in hand.  Most infantry Soldiers never even get issued one until they become a senior NCO or company commander.  It's main uses are for tankers, MP's, SOF units, and all the field grade staff officers who never leave the FOB (no joke, a pistol has become one of those 'rank has its privileges' item).   As to the which rifle round is best sidebar...a big thing that isn't being discussed is military shooting is different than civilian shooting.  Suppressive fire is used so units can maneuver into place and that means you use a lot of ammo to keep the bad guys heads down while your buddy is exposed and moving.  Loading out 5.56mm rounds means every rifleman can carry more rounds than if they have 7.62mm and the trade off in performance isn't worth the risk of having less ammo on hand, IMO.       Even earlier than 2010.  We saw the first M14's come to our arms room in mid 2005 while I was in 2d BCT at Fort Campbell.  They were in vacuum sealed plastic and still had the wood stock on them.  I was there helping my armorer when we opened them up and it felt like we were curators handling a relic.  Units were issued a great 10x scope that we mounted onto them with a kit and about three months into our Iraq deployment (early 2006 time frame), the first polymer kit came out to give it modern options like adding an IR laser and other trinkets.    It's a great weapon when you have a guy trained how to use it correctly.  The layout of one or two marksmen per squad we had works well, IMO.

  That was a procedural vote.  It allows him to bring up the same bill for a vote again without it having to start from scratch and through the committee process until the next Congress is sworn in and seated. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/18/harry-reid-had-a-good-reason-to-vote-against-the-gun-bill/

Islam is living rent free in the heads of many it seems. :rolleyes:

Stay away from ebay and check this site; www.watchrecon.com If you're married, it has the potential to start a fight :D I picked up this bad boy from there. My BlackBerry camera didn't do it justice.

I'm think that the cop knew full well there is no legal requirement for a citizen to inform them if they have a HCP and/or are armed during a stop.  But since there is no consequence for a police officer to lie to a citizen, he may just be trying to get compliance one person at a time with what he thinks is best.  He seems like the "respect my authoritah" type of LEO. 

  Form 1 is back up on eFile. https://www.atfonline.gov/EForms/faces/userProfile/login.jspx?_afrWindowMode=0&_afrLoop=35031225066636291&_adf.ctrl-state=dqpmf9txp_4

A snub nose is on the "when I have more money to waste" list.  I figure it will be a nice way to round out the collection and very practical for carry if I ever decide to use it for that.  I always figured I would just pick one up at a pawn shop or off the trading post here, but that one is beautiful enough to make me consider one new out of the box.