The government’s Law Commissioner has a fascinating new brief
He’s defence counsel to a man involved in a highly innovative Rabat cottage industry: making thousands of bullets which are smuggled into Libya for use by militias.
Apart from the bullets and some EUR15,000 in cash, the police found on the premises three 45-gallon drums full of gunpowder – in a Rabat street of terraced houses.
UPDATED: this website seems to have a lot of resident expert readers in all manner of subjects, which is wonderful. Several have sent in comments pointing out that the word ‘gunpowder’ used in the newspaper reports is incorrect, that gunpowder is imported for fireworks but the powder used for ammunition (smokeless) is a different substance and that it does not explode, though it does burn very rapidly when set alight. The procedures used for importation and storage are the same as those for gunpowder (storage at Mosta Fort under the AFM, etc) and that there more importers of ammunition powder than there are of gunpowder.
Interestingly, the report on timesofmalta originally mentioned 3 x 45-gallon drums of gunpowder, which is where I got the figure, and is now reporting 14kg of gunpowder. The ‘gallon’ bit can’t have come out of nowhere – barely anyone knows what a gallon is anymore, or uses the word. It was obviously picked up from the original Maltese in court ‘gallun’.
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The Law Commissioner must be especially cautious to keep in mind which of his two hats he is wearing at a particular moment, whether he is wearing the hat of an embellisher of the law or that of freeing suspects from the clutches of the law – a prestigious act of juggling worthy of any circus.
Totally agree. In Canadian naval terms, the ‘Cock of the Walk’ is required to walk a very fine line in order to retain the title.
So Malta has its own tiny “arms industry” and, like bigger countries, we also export armaments to regions where there are civil wars.
Oh yes, this is very normal isn’t it?
I understand that the Rabat man who has been arraigned owns a gun-shop.
Some gun enthusiasts refer to make their own bullets, therefore it could be possible that the Rabat man had the necessary permits/papers.
Nevertheless, the sudden increase in demand for raw materials would have been expected to raise a red flag, and it seems that it did.
I know that Saint Rita is the patron saint of the impossible , but she’s got competition from our multitasking Law Commissioner.
Tal-biki: http://www.independent.com.mt/mobile/2013-10-07/news/guido-de-marco-firm-received-5000-a-year-in-consultancies-2824142851/
Half the logical fallacies are employed there.
Like this?
http://s7v1.scene7.com/is/image/JohnLewis/000010630
Where’d you get that pic of me?
In St Julians. You were sleepwalking last night.
The gunpowder used for pyrotechnics also does not actually explode but instead burns very rapidly, just like smokeless powder in ammunition, a phenomenon known as deflagration.
Both materials produce relatively slow and controlled “explosions” fit for the purposes for which they are normally used.
The important difference is that smokeless powders produce less smoke and leave less deposits (and therefore less fouling on the gun barrel and triggering mechanism) on burning than does black powder.
The distinction you are referring to is between deflagration and detonation, the latter being supersonic and propagates through shock. Detonation is exhibited by high explosives such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, commonly known as TNT.
[Daphne – You people amaze me. I’m really not surprised that the comments-board is a big part of this website’s attraction.]
The Law Commissioner must have plenty of fascinating briefs of this sort:
http://www.ralphlaurenoutletpolocheap.co.uk/images/Polo-rlopc/Polo%20Ralph%20Lauren%20Green%20Big%20Pony%20Underwear.jpg
Pony briefs for a bantam cock.