A small tremor in the world of professional journalism could signal a looming earthquake in philosophy.

http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m3d11-NY-Times-gets-an-education-Seattle-Times-wises-up

Airsoft guns, which fire little plastic balls, are used by a growing number of loyal enthusiasts (think paintball, only not as messy).  In addition, thanks to their realistic look, weight, and feel, these guns are often used for training purposes by National Guard units and law enforcement. 

It was this realism that led CBP agents to seize the shipment—which was destined for Airsoft Outlet Northwest in Cornelius, Oregon—and to call in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) for a closer look.

The BATFE was at least knowledgeable enough to discern that the guns in question were, in fact, not real guns.  The case should have ended right then and there.  After all, the agency has authority only with respect to the importation of real guns.  Toy guns fall no more under BATFE jurisdiction than teddy bears.

However, a little technicality like lack of jurisdiction was not enough to keep BATFE off the case.

“In its present state, our firearms technology branch classified this as a machine gun,” said BATFE special agent Kelvin Crenshaw.

But wait a minute.  Didn’t the BATFE previously admit that these are not real guns? 

Yes, but “With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun,” Crenshaw said.

Astonished, the owners of the store, Brad Martin and his son, Ben, inquired with the agents as to exactly how “minimal” the work would be to “convert” these toys into real machine guns. 

The Martins were given the government version of “talk to the hand.”  File a Freedom of Information Act request, they were told.

The Martins have done just that, as has Gun Owners of America.  There must be accountability with this agency because if the Bureau can unilaterally decide to get into the business of regulating toys, its mission has grown dramatically without any congressional input or oversight. 

Of course, that would not come as a big surprise to many gun dealers who interact with the BATFE on a regular basis.  The agency has become an arrogant and out-of-control bureaucracy with a history of trampling on people’s gun rights.

Even more troubling is that this agency’s mission—at least as it relates to firearms—falls completely outside the framework of constitutional authority given to the federal government. 

As the Supreme Court reaffirmed in the 2008 Heller decision, Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms.  But if firearms transactions have to be approved by the Washington bureaucrats, what was once a “right” has morphed into a “privilege.” 

And now they are opening the door to regulating toy guns, even though it would be extremely risky, expensive and, well, dumb, to attempt to convert an Airsoft into an actual machinegun.

In fact, GOA and the Martins separately consulted with several gunsmiths who debunked the notion that the seized Airsoft guns could be converted with “minimal work.” 

To make the transformation, the entirety of the upper receiver would have to be replaced, but the lower receiver would still be unable to endure the intense force of live ammunition because it is made of pot metal (inexpensive alloys) instead of hard steel.  And all of this work would actually cost more than buying a real—and stable—AR-15 rifle.

BATFE also tried to justify the seizure because the toys lacked the blaze orange tips now required on all imported toy guns. This again raises the question of jurisdiction and the BATFE regulating toy guns. 

The Martins noted that previous shipments from Taiwan lacked the orange paint, but that they were allowed to simply go to Tacoma and paint the ends of the barrels themselves. 

Not this time, though.  The toy guns, valued at over $10,000, remain in the hands of the BATFE and are slated to be destroyed.

Brad and Ben Martin were robbed just as surely as if they had been mugged walking down the street.  Only in this instance, the thugs operated under the color of law by an agency whose very existence is questionable. 

Witnesses say the clashes began in north Mogadishu Wednesday afternoon and escalated when African Union peacekeepers in tanks reinforced government troops.  Residents reported heavy shelling overnight into Thursday.

Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, says about 20 civilians were killed Wednesday and an additional 20 have already been killed Thursday.

He says at least 83 civilians have been wounded in the fighting.

The Somali transitional government has promised for weeks to launch an offensive against insurgent groups, but has yet to do so.  Thousands of residents have fled Mogadishu in anticipation of the fighting.

The main insurgent group al-Shabab controls large parts of the capital and southern Somalia.

The U.N.-backed government controls the airport, seaport, and presidential palace with the help of the AU peacekeepers.

Sixteen Christian aid workers from New Zealand were expelled because Morocco’s Interior Ministry says they were using the Village of Hope orphanage in Fez to convert Moroccan children to Christianity under the guise of charity.

Christian groups are allowed to operate in Morocco so long as they do not try to convert Muslims, who make up 98 percent of the kingdom’s population.

“As we drove into work there were police everywhere, roadblocks outside,” said Chris Broadbent, personnel director at the orphanage.

Broadbent says what first appeared to be a routine paperwork check quickly turned to deportation.  In a telephone interview from Spain, he says Moroccan authorities asked children at the orphanage if they could recite the Koran while police searched the facility for Christian literature.

“They were looking for any Christian-type material that the children might have been exposed to, like children’s bible stories, anything related to Christian literature for children,” he said.

Broadbent says police found children’s bible stories at the orphanage, but he denies the group was acting as missionaries, saying they did not force people to change their beliefs.  He says children at the orphanage were taught Arabic and the Koran.

Moroccan authorities say there were responding to complaints by people who live near the orphanage who said Christians were targeting children under age 10, and according to the Interior Ministry “exploiting some families’ poverty” to proselytize.

Morocco’s Communication Minister Khalid Naciri says the deportations are about disrespecting Moroccan law, not about religion.

Naciri says this is not an act against Christians.  It is an act against people who are breaking the law.  Naciri says Moroccan law deals severely with anyone who violates rules protecting religious behavior, and the government is equally severe with Muslim extremists.

Dutch, British, and American Christian aid workers have also been expelled from Morocco in the past week.  

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Ranz says the government has identified several other Americans for deportation, and the embassy has been told additional people will be expelled, though he declined to give specific names or numbers.

Pastors in several cities say they believe this is a coordinated campaign to purge the country of evangelists who have been tolerated there for decades.

Jack Wald has been the pastor of the protestant Rabat International Church for 10 years.  He says the last week has been like going to sleep and waking up in a different country.

Jean-Luc Blanc, who heads Casablanca’s Evangelical Church of Morocco, says these expulsions are unusual for the Moroccan government.  If they want to expel all the missionaries who are working clandestinely in Morocco, he says they will have to expel hundreds of people.

In the past, Blanc says the government would expel one or two missionaries a year.  But this time, it has been a large group all at once.  And he believes there will be more.

Ganic was arrested on 1 March at London’s Heathrow Airport on a Serbian warrant. He is accused of taking part in a 1992 ambush on a Yugoslav army convoy that was retreating from Sarajevo, in which at least 18 soldiers were killed. 

Last week, Bosnia also made an extradition demand, saying that under international law it is entitled to process its citizens accused of war crimes.

A British court has scheduled an extradition hearing for 29 March.

Bosnian officials have criticized Ganic’s arrest and say it will not only strain relations between the two Balkan neighbors, but also the inter-ethnic relations within Bosnia-Herzogovina.

During the 1992-1995 ethnic conflict in Bosnia, Belgrade politically and militarily supported Bosnian Serbs.
 
Serb authorities accuse 19 former Bosnian officials of having a role in the 1992 ambush of the Yugoslav Army convoy.  They say more than 40 people were killed in the attack.

Ganic, a professor of engineering, served as president and vice president of the Bosnian Federation between 1997 and 2001.

Under the 1995 Dayton peace accords, Bosnia was divided into two entities — the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic.  Ethnic tensions remain high.

In Kandahar last night, a joint security force searched a compound in the town of Sonjaray, in the Zharay District, after intelligence information indicated militant activity. During the search the joint force captured a Taliban commander responsible for identifying and killing spies, controlling improvised explosive device defenses and leading attacks against coalition forces. Another insurgent was also detained for questioning.

In Nimroz yesterday, an Afghan-international security force searched a compound near Delaram in Khash Rud District after intelligence information indicated militant activity. The force detained three individuals, one of whom identified himself as the targeted Taliban sub-commander.

In other operations, an Afghan citizen informed ISAF forces of an explosives cache in the Shindand district of Herat province yesterday. The cache contained 4 kilograms (9 lbs) of TNT, gunpowder and a fuse.

In the Khugyani district of Nangarhar province yesterday, an Afghan civilian reported an IED site to Afghan National Police. Upon investigation, two IED’s were found. One device used a rocket-propelled grenade and the other 90 kg (200 lbs) of unknown bulk explosives. Both were destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team.

No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.

One of the men is a senior Taliban commander in Nad-e Ali District, known to have links with SIED networks and to have planned attacks against ANSF and ISAF forces.

This operation took place west of Nad-e Ali and is the second in a week that resulted in the capture of a Taliban commander.

In addition to capturing the insurgents, three SIED vest detonators were found along with one AK-47, five loaded magazines and one grenade.

Three women and four children in the compound were protected throughout the operation.

No shots were fired and no civilians were injured in this operation.

“You can drop one on a target to execute the mission and stay on target,” said Brig. Gen. John Maddux, Program Executive Officer, Ammunition. “Also, this will decrease the footprint of conventional ammo in theater because you only need one to make first kill.”

The program — called Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative (APMI) — emerged as a result of an urgent request from commanders in Afghanistan who seek the ability to pinpoint targets using precision or GPS -guided mortar rounds.

APMI improves upon the 136-meter Circular Error Probable (CEP) of conventional mortars by reducing it to about 10-meters, said Bruce Kay, Department of the Army Systems Coordinator, Mortar Systems.

“This is a 120mm mortar round that provides precision capability to ground forces. A current conventional mortar round has an accuracy of about a 136-meter CEP. With APMI, we have been able to demonstrate a less than 10-meter CEP,” Kay said. “This provides a far improved capability to the ground forces commander. ”

Precision mortars are needed in the mountains of Afghanistan and in areas where reducing collateral damage is essential, Kay said.

“This is designed for a precision capability such as against a sniper in a building, or enemies in a bunker or trench. If you were to engage with a conventional mortar round, you would have to fire 8-to-10 rounds to kill or suppress the target. With APMI, you will probably be able to do the same thing with one or two rounds.”

APMI will soon begin phase two testing that includes safety certification and qualification testing necessary to meet the urgent material release requirements.

The Army will soon down-select and choose one of three industry teams competing for the award. Each of the three teams, Raytheon-Israeli Military Industries, General Dynamics and ATK, have put their respective APMI rounds through a series of rigorous tests.

“Each vendor brought in 25 rounds. Each vendor was compared against the same standards. They did extreme weather testing and safety testing, among others,” said Kay.

Alongside APMI, the Army will still need conventional mortars for area and suppressive fires, Army officials said.

“There is a balance of how much conventional munitions and how much precision munitions we need. We are working now to determine that,” said Maddux.

APMI could expand beyond Afghanistan once the rounds have been demonstrated successfully in combat, Kay said.

Operating primarily in the Petionville, Tabarre and Delmas areas, the “Green Falcons,” provided security and assisted non-Governmental organizations in the distribution of rations at two key distribution points.

Last week, Nepalese and Jordanian forces and the Catholic Relief Services, who will continue to support international relief efforts in the area, assumed responsibility for the distribution points.

The paratroopers deployed to Haiti on Jan. 16 and distributed more than 11,909 liters of water, 370,172 meals, and provided medical care for more than 1,600 patients during the deployment.

“This was a great example of how the global response force was able to respond to a crisis and support U.S. interest and priorities. Our Soldiers took great pride in representing the United States in this humanitarian aid mission,” said Lt. Col. Keith Pellegrini, commander of the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.

The Green Falcons also played a key role in supporting Haiti’s resettlement efforts by removing rubble throughout the Port-au-Prince area clearing approximately 60 blocks. In addition, they issued 2,000 tarps for shelter, and in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Navy structural engineers, helped inspect 50 structures allowing families to return to their homes.

“I’m glad we came down here. It’s been an opportunity,” said Spc. Olivia Jackson, a human resource specialist with 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, of Bronx, N.Y. “It’s one thing to shoot and fire your weapon, but taking part in the humanitarian aid effort is the other side of the Army.”