I didn't know this fact but I'm not surprised. One of my historical heterodoxies is that I am of the opinion Douglas MacArthur was a colossal shitheel and not nearly as good a leader as his reputation asserts.

>I've known about the CMP for decades, but never got around to
>completing all the paperwork you have to do in order to buy something
>from them. There's quite a lot of it. Not only is the order form
>long and involved (and it must be notarized), the applicant has to
>provide evidence that he or she is a U.S. citizen, a member of an
>approved club or organization, and "active in the shooting sports," a
>phrase which admits of some leeway of interpretation.

This actually makes me feel a lot better about some things, as I'm used to living in a world where people react to the idea that someone might have to prove they're minimally competent in order to purchase a deadly weapon like you'd just proposed to cut off their arms. Because freedom.

>The CMP ships all its rifles in these lovely foam-lined hard plastic
>cases, suitable for baggage check on airplanes (note: this is legal),
>at no extra charge.

People don't know that! About a year ago my brother was seriously considering driving to North Carolina with his rifles in his trunk (a college friend had invited him to his hunting lodge for a long weekend) which would have basically given him time to roll up, have a drink, and turn around and immediately drive back, when I says to him "You know you can baggage check those, right? If you pack them properly you can literally walk right into an airport with them and present them at the ticket counter."

Hand to god, he didn't believe me. He was like 75% convinced I was trying to get him arrested until I pulled up the appropriate documentation online. My brother is a bit younger than me; he was only fifteen on 9/11 and has never really not lived in a world where walking into an U.S airport with a weapon has seemed anything other than a very bad idea.

>Interestingly, one thing that US forces did do in April 1942 was Doolittle's
>raid on Tokyo, in which a group of daft bastards in B-25s (note: not naval
>aircraft) took off from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, bombed the
>Japanese capital years before the Japanese government had told its citizenry
>America would be in any position to retaliate for Pearl Harbor, and then ended
>up scattered hell to breakfast around China because they didn't have the range
>to go anywhere else.

Trivia: one of those B-25s, under the command of 1st Lieutenant Robert Emmens, made it to Russia rather than China. This was contrary to orders and something of a diplomatic faux pas given the fact that the USSR was not (and would never be in any meaningful way) at war with the Empire of Japan... but that does not excuse the fact that at a time when Joey Stalin was shrieking for every bit of war materiel the Allies could spare and making pointed demands for a second front to be opened ASAP, his goons were holding five American airmen in none-to-comfortable conditions and feeding them so badly it's a miracle none died.

They eventually escaped by bribing an Afghani smuggler to get them to a British consulate in Iran. True story. It'd make a decent movie.

-Merc
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