Stop, wait, check before buying an imitation gun

A 19-YEAR-OLD BOY from Sichuan province, Southwest China, who bought 24 imitation guns on the Internet has been sentenced to life in jail for "smuggling weapons", triggering a controversy. Comments:

Although lack of legal knowledge cannot be used as an excuse to justify the boy's act and extenuate his crime (according to law), it is heartbreaking to see a teenager imprisoned for life for breaking the law because of ignorance. However, this professional and well-documented court decision is different from public expectation, which again proves that the work to spread public awareness about laws still has a long way to go to. Relevant departments should, therefore, make more efforts to educate people about laws so that they better understand at least the ones that could affect their daily life, and act accordingly.

Beijing Youth Daily, Sept 23