Gunman Opens Fire During "The Dark Knight Rises"
 

This is just heartbreaking beyond belief. Prayers for the victims, their friends and families. I can't get my head around what it would take to commit this type of act.


http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/col...html?hpt=hp_t1

It takes evil & hopelessness to commit such an act. Very sad :(

A three month old was in the group of victims. SMH. Just glad they caught the guy.

So sad.

I saw that one of the victims may have been a six year old? Who takes a six year old to a midnight screening of a movie? (I can understand taking the infant, they will probably sleep though it)

I know...but you see kids of all ages at 2AM in Walmart now days. Go figure. Poor kid. I'm sure they didn't expect to get a gunshot wound with their movie popcorn.

I read this - how heartbreaking. Thoughts & prayers going out to all of those affected by the shooting.

I attended an IMAX showing of the trilogy last night, ending with Dark Knight Rises opening at midnight. I can totally see how the audience may have originally thought it was part of the theatrics planned by the movie theatre. And depending on where it occurred in the movie, the adjacent theatres wouldn't have noticed the sounds right away. This is very sad.

I also see how this is a case advocating for personal concealed carry. If just one person in that theatre had been trained and able to stop this guy, imagine how many of those 12 deaths could have possibly been prevented.

Let's just hope this guy isn't found "not guilty for reason of mental defect", or whatever they call it there.

Various news sources are reporting that the 3 month old has already been discharged.

There is a huge leap between someone in the audience having a concealed weapon and someone being able to stop the guy. He had full body armor and was carrying an AK-47 (or something similar; I've seen conflicting reports).

And it's a huge leap to "the bad guy might be wearing body armor therefore we all should be defenseless against whatever happens." As I said, if one person had been able to stop this guy.....Body armor has weaknesses. It doesn't protect everything. I am willing to take my chances on myself or others in the audience trying to make the guy stop rather than curl up in a ball and beg not to be shot next.

Methinks you know very little about the accuracy of handguns.

In Colorado, you have to be able to prove that the Defendant couldn't distinguish between right or wrong. I think that'd be a hell of a tough sell considering the fact that he planned this thing out, probably over a period of months or years. His apartment is boobytrapped, he was wearing body armor, so he had to think that what he was doing would be wrong enough that someone might shoot back, so while I think this is a possible defense, it's a terrible defense in this case for a number of reasons.

Insanity defenses or not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect defenses are incredibly rare to see used and it's much rarer to see those defenses actually work.

Even if you hit someone on the body armor, it's going to sting enough to slow them down.

Again, that's a pretty big IF. You assume that they can grasp what is happening, remain calm enough to pull out the weapon and load the magazine, and get a clear shot off at a distance that allows them to be accurate in the middle of this type of chaos.

Don't get me wrong, I think you can reasonably make a case for concealed carry, but this incident is NOT it.

I agree. Considering this took place in a tear gas-filled, dark, loud movie theater, I think adding more guns to the mix would just make the environment even more dangerous.

The you think wrong. I have a great deal of experience with them. From my personal weapons to military training, I know that a short firing range (movie theatres are not that large), high levels of practice and good quality weapons can give you very good accuracy with handguns.

I also know that if one, two or more people in that audience had personal protection with them, then yes, it would have distracted him, slowed him down, possibly wounded or killed him and the outcome might have been different-and conceivably it might have been the same. But I do know that I would rather be defending myself than kneeling and begging. I will not be an unarmed, willing victim.

And body armor is not a magic protection bubble, which is why friends of mine who are police officers are still wary. It has a lot of vulnerabilities.

Shocking Mindless Violence.....

What has the world come to?

The problem for me comes with all the other people in the audience with concealed weapons who don't know what they're doing. Not a good thing in a panicked crowd as far as I'm concerned.

Couldn't agree more, anyone with a brain in their head would know this theater would be filled with kids and young adults. Who goes after the innocent?

Again, shows that you do not know me. For one thing, I'm a chick. For another, I am not and never have been an "Internet tough guy." But I will and have defended myself and my home with weapons. I will not be an unarmed, willing victim. Should you choose to do so, then that is certainly your right. Attempting to mock those of us who believe in personal defense shows us a lot about YOU. People who grew up in hunting communities, have been in the military or who have received proper training often choose defense over retreat.

As sometimes do people who haven't grown up in hunting communities, who haven't been in the military, who haven't received proper training and who wouldn't really have a clue what to do in a dark, crowded, tear gas-filled theater, no matter how much they think they can save the day. The risk of those people creating problems bothers me as much if not more than the risk of the isolated crazy gunman.

They've all had the classes, so one would hope that if someone is going to carry a gun, they know how to use it correctly.

Sorry, but that did make me laugh. One would indeed hope, but I fear that all too often, one would be disappointed, especially when we're talking about a dark, crowded theater rather than a firing range. Dealing with that kind of situation takes a lot more training and skil than someone is likely to get in a regular firearm safety class.

It SUCKS. IT SUCKS REALLY BAD
 

It SUCKS. IT SUCKS REALLY BAD

Sorry to be dramatic, Gang. Just telling it like it is.

This community and Colorado have been through alot.
We survived the fires, feeling completely helpless while everything around us was burning. We had smoke from both the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires. It hurt like hell to have smoke in blowing between the mountains from countless fires in the state. We came together. Greeks came out in force to help the victims. They were AMAZING and we can be so proud of them.

And now this.

It SUCKS. IT SUCKS REALLY BAD

We were so looking forward to our Olympians in London. Missy Franklin is a favorite. We are so proud of her and all of those that train in Colorado including the Olympic training facility.

The city and everyone is hurting right now. We will get through this.
We got through Columbine and Platte Canyon as well as everything else.

Kathy Lee Bates said it best;
"O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!"

I didn't think that we could take anymore but we will.
And Greeks will be there. Trust me, they will be. We as a GLO community and their respective organizations can be proud of them.

KEEP THE KARMA COMING...

Practice makes perfect... Except when your life is on the line.

There are people who go through the most advanced military training in the world, and then panic and retreat when it comes to the real deal.

And I don't think I even have to explain to you the difference between shooting a person who's shooting back at you in a crowded, smoke-filled theater, and attempting to kill a defenseless deer in the woods.

My job is to train people how to use one particular computer program. My company implemented it 2+ years ago. There are people who still don't know how to perform basic functions like cutting and pasting, even after I've shown them how to do it 10 different times. And they use this program all day, every day.

The fact that someone attended a class means nothing.

Literally just saw a fb status along the lines of "can't go to the movies because some guy shot some people in colorado, ther goes my night :/" OMFG WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU INNOCENT PEOPLE DIED AND THIS IS A NATIONAL TRAGEDY WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT YOUR FUCKING FRIDAY AHHHH HSKDKSKALAOALSFJGJSLALALALAKANVISLDDILFHADILFHDAJL FHADJLVNADLVNDSJLFDIFJDAILFJOLADFAIELFHDIALNFADLIN FALIDFN

Unfriend'd. You don't even deserve my rant and/or calm explanation as to why you're a disgusting human being.

:( Such a tragedy, such a senseless loss of life.

They need to lock the shooter up and throw away the key.

Colorado does have concealed carry permits.
http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbys...gunlaws_co.htm

I cannot disagree enough with your statement. The disturbing thing about active shooter situations (which this was) is that the subject typically only stops shooting because they run out of ammunition, everyone's dead and there's no one left to shoot, or they are stopped by someone (typically law enforcement). The reason why so many people got shot is because the man had no resistance what so ever. Hell, even if a 90 year old grandma started popping rounds at this guy's general direction it would have forced him to duck and get cover, possibly allowing more people to escape. I'm not sure of the exact details of the layout of this theater but since most people either run away or hit the floor from gunmen I don't see a whole lot of danger of people getting in the crossfire. Also, whoever did have a gun would have the element of surprise on this guy since I'm pretty sure he'd have a hard time finding the movie goer with the gun in a dark, smoke filled theater.

At the very least it will. Ive heard of people getting knocked on their ass with the wind knocked out of them while taking a direct shot to their armor. Of course, it all depends on the caliber of the firearm and type of body armor (soft vs hard)

I don't know what will change some of the laws in this country, but there are some that need to be changed. I honestly really don't think there is any reason for any civilian person to have an assault weapon, but that's just me. I just think that should only be for law enforcement and the military. I mean, I would think that the American public would like to be at least as safe as members of congress are when they're at their job. You can't walk into the capitol with any kind of weapons, so then why are we allowed to walk down many of the streets of America armed, especially those who shouldn't have weapons in the first place? Just my opinion on the subject. I'm just more concerned now about copy-cats. I guess this now means that we're going to have to be searched for weapons before entering the movies.

I unfriended someone who bitched about the parents of the 3 month old, calling them horrible parents -- as if they were to blame for the baby being injured. "OMFG WHY WOULD ANYONE BRING THEIR BABY TO A MIDNIGHT MOVIE ANYWAYYYY??? OMFGOMFGOMFG."

Or get killed by granny.

Well I sure do. People panic in situations like this, and it's quite possible that it's hard to tell where the shooting is coming from.

And why do you think movie goer-with-gun would have such an easy time finding him -- and only him -- in the dark, smoke/gas filled, chaotic theater?

No, it's not just you.

I entirely agree. The more people able to wander around with weapons (especially those with mental illness, etc. that may be undiagnosed), the greater chance that something can go wrong. There's no logical reason for people to be wandering around with concealed weapons. There's too much room for error.

It's called a muzzle flash sir. With the AR-15 alone he might as well have had a flashlight in his hand.

And if the sane and good people are the only ones who are disarmed, that's a good thing?

Yep, I totally agree. I'm not sure about gun control in other states, but here, people are allowed to have a concealed weapon. On top of that, the police force has been reduced here in some cities, as well. That just doesn't make any sense, to me.

As I just said to one of my friends on Facebook:

What's amazing to me... When I go into a concert, or a playhouse, or a sporting event, my bag is checked, and in some instances, I've had to walk through metal detectors. In thinking about this today, I'm actually shocked that packed movie theaters don't do the same thing. I know that the guy came through an emergency exit, but hell.. put metal detectors by those too.

People will obtain a gun if they want one.. or maybe they'll use knives.. or planes.. or biological weapons.. or whatever they can possibly think of. I agree that there are certain guns that people don't need to own, but again, I'm not so sure that telling people, "You can carry a gun wherever you go," or, "You can't own a gun at all" will really solve the problem.

If someone wants a gun badly enough, regardless of whatever law you put in place, they're going to find one.