I've written before about Great Britain's criminialization of basic self-defense. If a robber enters your house in the UK armed only with a knife and you use a gun to shoot them ... well, prepare to spend some time in prison.

News came this week that almost sounds too completely insane to be true, but the Daily Mail is no Onion.

Burglars will be allowed to escape without punishment under new instructions sent to all police forces. Police have been told they can let them off the threat of a court appearance and instead allow them to go with a caution.

The same leniency will be shown to criminals responsible for more than 60 other different offences, ranging from arson through vandalism to sex with underage girls.

New rules sent to police chiefs by the Home Office set out how seriously various crimes should be regarded, and when offenders who admit to them should be sent home with a caution.

A caution counts as a criminal record but means the offender does not face a court appearance which would be likely to end in a fine, a community punishment or jail.

That's right, if a burglar breaks into your home and then, by chance, lightning then strikes indicating that the cops actually caught the burglar, the crook only gets a stern warning.

This is what happens when you've got the ivory tower elite (with their private security guards and high-tech security systems) running public policy.