London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s de facto, knife control measures for dealing with the city’s spate of attacks were the subject of ridicule by conservative pundit Ben Shapiro — and thousands on Twitter — over the weekend.
Violence on London streets has been so bad over the past two months that the city surpassed New York in murders and prompted Mr. Khan announce a series of measures on Sunday. His rhetoric sparked a wave of mockery by critics who spotlighted its similarity to gun control activism in America.
“No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife,” Mr. Khan tweeted Sunday while linking to anti-knife measures supported by his office. “Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.”
No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law. https://t.co/XILUvIFLOW
— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) April 8, 2018
The city touted a planned “Education Knife Crime Summit” and linked to its 2017 “Knife Crime Strategy,” which prohibits the sale of knifes to young people.
“Yes why would anyone want to carry a knife or gun for self-defense,” responded Mr. Shapiro, whose tweet included images of the May 2013 killing of British Army soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby.
Mr. Rigby was attacked on London streets by Islamic radicals Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. The two ran their victim down with a car and then killed him with knives and a cleaver.
Mr. Shapiro’s tweet was shared roughly 2,000 times and received hundreds of comments.
The mayor’s tweet elicited nearly 12,000 responses.
“LONDON MAYOR BANS KNIVES Australians, Hero Killers Hardest Hit,” responded one man.
“What else do you want to outlaw? Bats? Hammers?” asked another.
“So glad I live in Texas!” a woman identified as Trish wrote Monday.
Statistics on knife crime provided by the Metropolitan Police paint a grim picture.
“There have been between eight and 15 ’knife crimes with injury’ on average each day in London,” BBC reported April 6.
Yes why would anyone want to carry a knife or gun for self-defense pic.twitter.com/qDhU3WtBwq
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 9, 2018
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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