theyoyomaster

Yes and no, there is stuff to do but it's not like driving a car where it's an active control situation. Most of it is passive/reactive so I absolutely read books at cruise and we definitely take naps on longer days, both swapping out with an extra pilot and using a bunk and in the actual seat, just so long as the other pilot is awake and you let everyone know you're going to close your eyes a bit.

Ah, so you're against basic rights and don't actually want to get elected. Enjoy your grand standing/political stunt.

The NRA is a little overzealous and I find most gun owners, members or not, get fed up with the constant rhetoric of "b. HUSSEIN 'Bama is COMIN TO TAKE YER GUNS! GIVE US $$$$$$!" At the same time they are honestly the best we have and they have evolved into this extreme due to the equal and opposite extreme of the antis. Regardless of their tactics I think it's realistic to say that we would not have made it through 2013 with no new major gun laws (so glad I don't live in NY or CT) without the NRA. Excessive? Sure, but at the same time they do legitimately do the job they advertise and they do it with your best interest in mind.

I also know some V-22 pilots that hate it.

Not as their private weapon but it largely depends on the department. There's no federal law against LEO bringing a work gun home. Normally it's along the lines of "LEOs in the course of their duty are exempt" so if their department says "you need to be ready at all times" there would be nothing keeping you from bringing it home.

Now the other way to get a new machine gun as a private citizen is to become a dealer. There are a limited number of new machine guns allowed on the market for civilian dealers as "dealer samples" and they are only transferable among dealers of machine guns. Now the catch there is that it is a very expensive business to get into with a somewhat limited market that isn't the easiest to break into. It is specified in the laws that you may not become a dealer for the purpose of owning your own items that would otherwise be banned so it's not a viable loophole if you have enough money and want to pretend to deal just to get the dealer samples; you have to be running a legitimate business.