"Batman Massacre"

[Greenday]

Went to my local AMC today and saw the movie. At no point did I feel in danger. Also didn't see any increased security. I guess it's just a slow media day and the media is taking the ONLY story of interest and running away with it. It certainly sucks, but it's a freak thing and I'm certainly not changing my movie watching life because of it.

[Hyena Dandy]

He dyed his hair red and just called himself the Joker.

The Joker's the one with the green suit, right? Who keeps asking riddles?

[insertNameHere]

Shit like this is why I like to carry my 9mm for protection, along with a flashlight to see what im hitting at. I had a debate in class today where it was stated only people with a desire to kill someone will get a permit and pray for this shit to happen while they are around. I don't want to have to kill someone, the point is to shot them till they stop attacking if they results in their death it is unfortunate. Friendly Fire can be a big deal but if you in a theater and you see the same guy spraying into the crowd, one can assume he is the bad guy. Also, to be a little selfish my gun is for MY protection and the people I love and care about. The liability of being a vigilante hero is to much to want to go looking for trouble.

If I could carry a police officer around I would to not need a gun. However, that is not practical. Also, if my life is in serious danger it is far quicker to draw a firearm, take several shots, go low ready and then get out my phone. At which point I open it, dial 911, wait for an answer, tell where i am, wait for police to respond which Might take 5-10min. that is to long if your about to die. Without a gun you only get the long waiting for the police bit.

My father is a cop, I have been raised to expect to worst out of people, so I hopefully will never be taken by surprise. Since I have seen some cliques already, if you ban guns only criminals will have guns and they will still do the same shit, only difference is law abiding citizens won't be able to protect themselves without having a personal body guard 24/7

[Andara Bledin]

The Onion weighs in.

(for those living under rocks, The Onion is satire, so be aware while reading)

^-.-^

[Greenday]

He dyed his hair red and just called himself the Joker.

The Joker's the one with the green suit, right? Who keeps asking riddles?

No, green suit asking riddles is The Riddler.

The joker had green hair, clown makeup, and was nuts.

[Hyena Dandy]

No, green suit asking riddles is The Riddler.

The joker had green hair, clown makeup, and was nuts.

That was the joke.

[insertNameHere]

That was the joke.

Yeah, I was told it to early make jokes after I said "I am dieing to see the new batman"... to which I thought saying " I would kill to be at the opening of batman!".... would be crossing the line.

Fucked up shit happens, I have pretty much decided if someone wants to go crazy all it takes is some planning and there really isn't anything your going to do to stop them. Obviously, he was ready for a stand off. Probably watched a movie called 'rampage" on netflix. Add Metal detectors and 1-2 armed security guards, now a shooter KNOWS nobody law abiding except security has a weapons. Watch the lobby scene from the Matrix. There is nothing magical about a metal detector it will just sound to let everyone know they are fucked as he walks through.

[Hyena Dandy]

Yeah, I was told it to early make jokes after I said "I am dieing to see the new batman"... to which I thought saying " I would kill to be at the opening of batman!".... would be crossing the line.

There's a difference, I feel, between making jokes about the event, and making jokes about the person who did it.

I feel when someone so clearly is doing something so everyone thinks that they're scary and gets their lives fucked up over it, they deserve to be a subject of outright mockery. Because jokes about them (rather than their actions) take away from the power of their actions.

An object of fear can hold power. An object of comedy can't hold that same type of power.

[Jetfire]

The Onion weighs in.

(for those living under rocks, The Onion is satire, so be aware while reading)

^-.-^

It's Satire, but it's also dead on correct too. Which is even sadder.

[jackfaire]

I know people like to feel in control, but we shouldn't have to live in fear of every possible situation just because the news are run by sensationalists.

It's worse than that they are removing the necessary fear. With the overboard measures they take after things like this it lulls people into a false sense of security so that when something does go horribly wrong people don't realize it is doing so until it's too late having ignored every sign that something was very wrong since you know it's safe.

[BlaqueKatt]

I'm on the fence about gun control and what not. I do not see how having other people armed would have helped.

Any person that follows true firearm safety would likely not have returned fire, why you ask?
Simple, know your target and what's beyond, also body armor isn't magical(hollywood lies, a lot), getting shot while wearing it you still take the brunt of the impact, you will likely have broken ribs, and possibly be knocked down.

He went into a place he knew would be full of "sitting ducks" so to speak, he was able to fire 70+ unanswered rounds, do you honestly think anyone would do that if they knew there was a very real possibility their targets could be firing back?

You don't have to imagine; civilians have done better. Not always, but it does happen, and sometimes it has the potential to save a lot of lives. I imagine that knowing that you aren't just another helpless victim might do a lot to help one find the fortitude to take action.

this is true for some.

[Andara Bledin]

He went into a place he knew would be full of "sitting ducks" so to speak, he was able to fire 70+ unanswered rounds, do you honestly think anyone would do that if they knew there was a very real possibility their targets could be firing back?

People have done just that; where he struck was as much a factor of where he was as whether or not the crowd might be armed. It was local and it was a major event - those were the only things that really mattered to his plans.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

People have done just that; where he struck was as much a factor of where he was as whether or not the crowd might be armed. It was local and it was a major event - those were the only things that really mattered to his plans.

I don't know, he did surrender immediately to the police rather than engage them. That means he either was considering his own safety or he has a manifesto / agenda he wants to rant to the world about after the fact.

That said, I can see no way that this situation would be improved by crossfire. A dark smoke filled room, possibly full of tear gas, with 50+ screaming panicked people in it vs a guy in body armour with an AR-15, shot gun and 2 handguns.

You're not making that shot with a 9mm and a flashlight.

[bara]

Im with GK, Im a damn good shot and wouldnt want to try to hit a nutjob through the seething mass of humanity that would have been going nuts in that theater.

As was previously said, he probably does have a manifesto or some sort of wacky agenda and the best way to deal with it is to not listen to it. Really, I know folks are against the death penalty but I cant see any reason to keep this guy around.

[Hyena Dandy]

He went into a place he knew would be full of "sitting ducks" so to speak, he was able to fire 70+ unanswered rounds, do you honestly think anyone would do that if they knew there was a very real possibility their targets could be firing back?

No rational person would do any such thing.

But no RATIONAL person would go into a movie theatre with a bunch of guns and start shooting.

It's quite a stretch to assign him enough rationality to try to decide whether or not anyone would shoot back, but not enough to think that mass murder is a bad idea.

Edit: If we were talking about just a garden-variety criminal, someone who, say, came in, and went down the aisles demanding people turn over their wallets, then shooting people who didn't... I might think that that's something where you can say "If he thought someone might be armed, he might not have done it." Consider the case of the town where everyone must be armed... Yeah, I think that a robber would be deterred by there being a threat.

Criminals can be scared off. But this guy isn't a criminal.