In the UK where they have a black hole somewhere near Swindon that seems to suck all the reason out of the country
The Government has announced it will review knife sentencing guidelines as police continue to question five people in relation to the murder of 16-year-old Shakilus Townsend.
Two men aged 22 and 18, two teenage boys aged 16 and 17, and a 16-year-old girl are being held at south London police stations in connection with the teenager’s death.
Sentencing guidelines, due to come into force next month, state that knife possession can be punished with a fine in the least serious cases, but Justice Secretary Jack Straw said this would be re-examined.
“It’s not a U-turn,” he said. “We will be talking to other ministers about it and we will make an announcement.”
Meanwhile David Cameron has called on the Government to toughen up on knife crime.
The Conservative Party leader now says anyone found carrying a knife should be jailed.
Last month the Prime Minister said everyone, from the age of 16 upwards, should be prosecuted for carrying a knife, but there was no mention of an automatic prison sentence.
That is not tough enough for Mr Cameron.
“I don’t believe that the Government’s ‘presumption to prosecute’ is enough.
“It doesn’t send a strong enough signal. We need a ‘presumption to prison’.”
And, in an interview with The Sun, he said: “We have to send the strongest possible message that carrying a knife is completely unacceptable in Britain, end of subject.”
He went on: “It is not a minor offence. There is no excuse for carrying a knife when you walk out of your door.”
It sounds to me as though I have plenty of reasons to carry a defensive weapon when I leave my house: All the yobs you can’t keep locked up because your ideas about sentencing high crimes is out of whack. Especially now when you want to make it a felony to carry a utility tool on your person.
And I know that the “conservative†party are basically our Democrats, but even with the release of Heller I haven’t heard something so outrageous escape the Dems mouths as of late (not that they don’t think it).
I am gleefully awaiting the announcement from the Home Office about how all rocks more than two inches in diameter will be collected next Thursday at noon.