When bullying happens to your child, you want something done about it. I tend to think an old-school butt-whooping from the victim does more good than anything, but I’ve been informed by more than one school administrator that such behavior isn’t acceptable. I’m just going to say, after the one where my kid had to be dragged off of the would-be bully, he never had a problem again. Anyway, it’s tough for a father to deal with it, because what was considered normal in our day isn’t today, and in some cases, the bullies are…
More than 21 million veterans and service members live in the U.S., but only about 6% of them bought a home using a VA home loan in the past five years. That percentage could be much higher. Eligible veterans often bypass the program for a number of reasons. First, they may not know all the advantages. Second, they may think getting a VA loan is an arduous process to be avoided. Last, some lenders don’t take the time to teach veterans about the program, or don’t know much about it themselves. The VA home loan is a program non-military home…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to announce Wednesday that he will cut general and admiral positions across the military by 20%, effectively doubling the reduction he ordered last year as part of a broader plan to reshape the senior ranks by Jan. 1, 2027. Hegseth is scheduled to lay out the plan during a “State of the Force” address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, according to Pentagon officials cited by several news outlets, including Fox News, which first reported it. Quantico is the same site where the secretary gathered the United States’ highest ranking generals and admirals…
Being a police officer is tough. I wouldn’t do it for three times the top-end pay for an officer, much less what they actually get paid. Growing up around the profession, I saw just what kind of toll it could take on a person, and that’s without losing a number of your colleagues in a single day. Just one was enough to rattle a lot of police officers’ families deeply. Officers in Charlotte, NC, dealt with that back in 2024 when four of their colleagues were gunned down by a convicted felon armed with a…
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident that saw five men arrested near a U.S.-run military air base in England late at night, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday. Burnham said U.K. and U.S. officials are carrying out a “complex and serious” investigation into how and why five men and three vans were near the perimeter of RAF Fairford, a base that has been used by American bombers striking Iran during this year’s war. Five British men in their 20s were arrested Sunday on suspicion of explosives offenses and planning an…
Can you be convicted of a crime when you act in self-defense but an errant shot strikes a home or another person? The answer may vary from state to state, and even from case to case, as the Ohio Supreme Court recently decided. This particular case involves a man named Timothy Bradley, who was originally charged with a variety of crimes after shooting a contractor named Zachary Burch at Bradley’s home in 2024. Bradley had hired, and then fired Burch, and the pair started arguing when Burch showed up to collect his tools. Video and audio…
An Air Force officer who was arrested after calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment has been recommended to stand trial by general court-martial—the military’s most serious level of trial—on most of the charges against him, according to his attorney. Maj. Jason Watson was arrested in uniform on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in July as he called for Trump to be impeached, arguing that the president had violated the Constitution and that Trump and Vice President JD Vance should be removed from office. Watson has said he acted not out of partisanship but to uphold his oath to defend…
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has already successfully gone after the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department over its unreasonable delays in processing concealed carry applications and recently targeted San Jose, California over its excessive fees for concealed carry permits, but now the division is seeking to strike down another local law on the books in San Jose. The Justice Department filed its first complaint against the city’s $1591 application fee a couple of weeks ago, but on Tuesday the agency filed an amended complaint this week that challenges San Jose’s requirement that concealed carry applicants undergo…
The U.S. Marine Corps is following the Department of Defense (DOD) and Air Force, issuing new deadlines for service members to revise their religious affiliation as part of a major shift in the U.S. Armed Forces that began months ago. On Tuesday, the Marine Corps published its own official Marine Corps Administrative Message (MARADMINS) implementing the policy change that will affect personnel. This MARADMIN “announces implementation of the revised Department of War Religious Affiliation Codes (RAC) and directs Marines to review and update their religious affiliation information.” Military.com was the first to report how DOD dramatically reduced its official number…
After I decided to write about my newfound respect and admiration for revolvers on Thursday, I started thinking about carry guns in a way I haven’t for quite a while. Nothing groundbreaking, but I wanted to see what my fellow Bearing Arms folks carry and hear from them about why. See, some of us are trainers. Some of us aren’t. But all of us believe in the Second Amendment with every fiber of our being. More than that, though, is that we’re gun people. We have opinions, and we didn’t just walk into a gun…
Many people ask about how tough it is to become a Navy SEAL. The following article details the requirements starting with the physical fitness test for the Navy SEALs training program, known as BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs). Are you up to it? Navy SEAL PST Standards PST Event Minimum Standards Competitive Standards 500-yard swim 12:30 8 minutes Push-ups 50 80-100 Sit-ups 50 80-100 Pull-ups 10 15-20 1.5-mile timed run 10:30 9-10 minutes To qualify for a contract, a prospective candidate must meet the minimum requirements. It is recommended that you strive for the optimum fitness standards and beyond to improve…
No good deed goes unpunished. That phrase feels especially appropriate after what happened to 19-year-old Martinez Long at Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan. On July 3, 2026, what began as an altercation inside the mall turned deadly. According to the City of Dearborn, Cameron Watkins and Keonte Seaborn, both 19, produced weapons during the initial confrontation. Watkins obtained a handgun from another person’s purse and shot Seaborn, killing him. But Watkins didn’t stop there. Authorities say Watkins continued firing recklessly inside the public mall and shot another person during a struggle, causing a non-life-threatening…
Many former military members will use old fitness test standards as a model to maintain after service. After having coached many “average Joes,” I have a few exercises and events I like to help people build up to and maintain. Many of these standards come from similar military exercises and events that this gentleman asked about this week: Do you have something akin to PST standards for average Joes? Like how many pushups should someone in their 40s be able to do, how far/fast should they run a mile, etc? Thanks! Joe Joe, great question. However, I will say that…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump observed Friday’s 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at a ceremony at the Pentagon by commemorating the lives lost when al-Qaida militants hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people in three locations and upended American foreign policy and national security. Trump and first lady Melania Trump listened as the names of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon that day were read aloud, a bell tolling between each. In his remarks, Trump recounted the stories of several of the victims and insisted that the moment has led to a fortification of American resolve.…
The hype and hysteria around so-called ghost guns got old long ago. The anti-gunners keep screaming about them as a problem and how the government should Do Something (TM). They’re not, and the numbers support it. Still, the hysteria continues. Defense Distributed’s victory in the case formerly known as VanDerStock is an important win.But over at The Volokh Conspiracy, noted Second Amendment attorney Stephen Halbrook makes the case that the ruling has ramifications well beyond so-called ghost guns.Defense Distributed could have a broader impact, particularly if affirmed and further exposited by the Fifth Circuit, by…
How would you respond if you heard someone say, “I’m a 90A, and I just finished up as the S1 for the 728th. I ran the battalion PAC and was responsible for OERs, NCOERs, awards and all MILPO actions”? The military jargon used to communicate systems, positions, geography and terminology is plentiful. Within the military, it’s a shorthand that makes communication more efficient, although to civilian listeners, it can be confusing to say the least. The U.S. military uses many unique items and concepts that civilians aren’t exposed to. Because of this and the need for expedient, clear communication, service…
A federal judge in Delaware has ruled the state’s ban on possessing unserialized firearms and the private manufacturing of guns violates the Second Amendment, while keeping in place the state’s laws that forbid the dissemination of computer-aided design files or other code or instructions used in 3D printing gun parts. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika also upheld the state’s prohibition on “knowingly transport[ing], ship[ping], transfer[ring], or sell[ing] an unfinished firearm frame or receiver,” ruling that the “Distribution ban” as she called it does not impose any burden on keeping or bearing unserialized firearms. For the most…
As Michael Jordan says, “If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.” Throughout life, we have choices and opportunities that come and go. Getting sidetracked on a dream from your youth is easy when other options cross your path. But you will be surprised; it may not be too late to regroup and get back on track with a never-forgotten goal from the past. Here is an email from a reader who is looking to serve in the military as he ages into his 30s: I was a good athlete in high school and wanted to…
A disputed report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a direct warning before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack has reopened questions about one of the most consequential intelligence “failures” in recent history. While the allegation remains unproven and has been denied by Israeli officials, it could affect Israel’s election, U.S. oversight of intelligence sharing, and Washington’s expanding role in Gaza. The coordinated assaults by Hamas nearly three years ago led to the killings of at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, plus approximately 251 people taken into Gaza as hostages. The Haaretz report, based on work by journalists Shlomi…
President Donald Trump has pardoned a Navy veteran who spent almost four years in prison for possessing and selling unregistered weapons. Patrick Tate Adamiak, a former Navy master at arms, was convicted in federal court in 2023 and sentenced to 20 years in prison after a source with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purchased eight machine guns from Adamiak’s online business, Black Dog Arsenal, between October 2021 and April 2022. Authorities found 25 unregistered firearms, two grenade launchers and two antitank missile launchers, according to prosecutors. Adamiak’s defense was that the items involved in his case were…
The war over Montgomery County, Maryland’s “gun-free zones” continues, but opponents have won a key battle in their fight to exercise their Second Amendment rights. On Thursday a federal judge granted an injunction against the county’s ban on concealed carry in houses of worship, though for now his ruling applies only to the plaintiffs who sued over the prohibition. The injunction means Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro and other members of the Silver Spring Jewish Center can now lawfully carry on the premises of the synagogue, but U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow declined to extend…
