Look at it this way. There will always be crazy people.
If there is gun control, crazy people won't have guns.
If a crazy person wants to go out in public and commit mass slaughter, he/she will need to work a little harder to make that happen. Chances are he/she will do a lot less damage without a gun before being apprehended.
I was thinking about this earlier. How if I said to a Mormon: "Well, he was breaking theater rules. If he'd been obedient, this tragedy never would have happened," the Mormon would have been horrified and thought I was a terrible person. But how often have we heard Mormons blame missionaries for tragedies that happen when a missionary is breaking the rules? Or an inactive deserves whatever befalls them because God is trying to humble them to get them back to the church? Thinking about Mormon views of obedience in light of this terrible shooting puts them into perspective, IMO.
Right, so we probably should think twice about making it so easy for people with murderous intent to get their hands on a tool with the sole purpose of killing.
Yep, shooter was retired cop. By law, they're entitled to 50-state carry once they've retired, and not subject to local CCW permitting policies. In other words, if he was known to be dangerous, you'd have to take it up not with the local LEO, but with the issuing agency (which, if the guy's a retiree, may be halfway across the country).
This isn't a gun issue, or a texting issues. It's a matter of two idiots with egos bigger than their heads.
If the idiot did not have a gun, probably no fatalities.
As Americans, we have the right to bear arms. There is a reason for that right. I will side with continuing to have that right while taking the risk of running into the rare idiot that abuses that right.
It is sad when something like this happens. I feel bad for the family.
You are living in a fantasy world if you think the US would be a safer place if they took away our right to have guns.
Why is the reality so hard to grasp... It would be the next thing to impossible to get rid of all the guns in America. Thought exercises like "if there were no guns..." are only of use in a philosophy class. There needs to be better access to mental health resources. A mentally stable and well armed populace is an incredibly polite populace. However, that might as well be a thought exercise too, the way things are going. But hell, at least we've gotten to the point where the majority of people know that mental illness isn't a result of sin, although you can count the infinitesimal slice of the 'Murican populace that are mormon OUT on that one. I guess that's some progress. So nice to know the mindset I was raised in is NOT the majority!
One of the things that was drummed into our heads REPEATEDLY is that you have to feel that you or someone near you is in danger of serious or lethal harm before you draw your weapon.
I can't even remember how many years I've been carrying, and thank goodness, I've NEVER felt that I had to draw my firearm. I'm a grandmother, with a few disabilities that would prevent me from either running away or fighting back in case of assault.
I think that the guy who was texting in the theater and who threw popcorn was behaving like an immature jerk, but there was NO WAY that the cop could have thought he was in mortal danger. He had no business using his weapon. What really staggers me is that he should have known that. Surely, over the course of his career, he should have developed a sense of who was capable of doing him lethal harm and who was not.
That's a lame argument. Society should bad mouth the ex-cop and call him for what he is. A fucktard who didn't think it through. Throw the book at him and many ass rapes in prison. Let me serve his time and think long and hard about the next time he decides to pull a trigger.
Punish stupidity. Not the gun.
Another tragic ending for an idiot with an ego, pride, or whatever.
Can't blame the devil so lets blame the ex comps stupid decesion that the has to live with.
In case you haven't noticed the USA turning very east germany each year. Not only do you have to protect yourself from your own Government but from the looney toons that you might meet in the street.
I don't throw popcorn on people for the same reason I don't mess with people generally: because you never know if they're mentally stable and you never know if they're armed.
Someone cuts me off in traffic? Oh well. I don't lay on the horn because I don't want to get shot.
Someone bumps my shoulder on the sidewalk? Oh well. I don't start a fight.
I operate under the assumption that everybody is armed and everybody is unstable.
kolobian Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >I operate under the assumption that everybody is > armed and everybody is unstable.
Reeves is not some "crazy" "unbalanced" “monster.” Reeves is a normal human being. In fact, the vast balance of evil is perpetrated by "normal" human beings. The ones who are rule-keepers:
“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages” ― Banksy
So – what I struggle with every day (and I do struggle, every day):
What does something like this say about human beings? What does this say about the species?
Texting or talking during commercial previews seems reasonable to me. Perhaps the shooter was looking for trouble. It is very sad that a man lost his life to a self appointed enforcer.
While I disagree that it's ok to text during the previews in the theater, I agree that a noisy gun is overkill, especially when a stabbing would have been just as effective.
A guy brings a gun to a popcorn fight, and then says that it was in self defense? This is awful. Are we going to have to put metal detectors in movie theaters like we do in inner city highschools?
I have NO right to comment on the US gun laws, as I don't live there. I am just very sorry to hear of this awful tragedy.
All I want to say is that in the last 12 months I had to move away from a neighbuor who was mentally unbalanced. He accused me of doing the most amazing things, things I would never have THOUGHT of, and he was VERY agressive. I did NOTHING to him, he was medically paranoid. If there had been any way he could have got a hold of a gun, I would not be here. Yes the mental health laws failed both he and I in this case, as nothing was done.
People can own guns here in Australia,under fairly strict regulations I understand, (I am NO expert) and yes there are tragedies from time to time, which break my heart. But fortunately, for whatever reason, this man didn't have one.
I don't have any answers to such tragedies, but it would be SO wonderful to think SOMETHING could be done.
My condolences to all involved.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2014 07:09PM by fluhist.
It's a very sad situation. The retired police officer obviously snapped. The police deal with so many numbskulls on a daily basis and probably have no way of adequately de-stressing. He probably had years of pent up stress building inside of him.
OTOH the man who was texting, when requested to stop, should have quickly exited to the lobby to complete his texting. That would have been the courteous thing to do.
The last time I went to a movie, I was sitting next to a ten year old boy with his parents sitting on the other side of him. He was on his cell phone playing a game during the movie. I turned sideways and gave him a hard stare. His parents did nothing. Eventually he put it away. I was appalled that his parents did not intervene.
I really don't understand what's wrong with texting in a cinema... It doesn't make much (or any) noise when my 17-year-old daughter texts (all the time)...
It's the bright light from the phone. It's distracting and rude to people trying to watch the movie. Movie theaters in the U.S. have a message before the movie explicitly telling people not to talk or text during the film. They are told to exit to the lobby area if they have an urgent message. They are told to seek assistance from management if anyone in the theater is talking or texting. I always shut off my phone either before the movie or when prompted to do so.
It's fine before the previews start, but once the lights go down that's the signal to put your phone away.
I happen to be a gun enthusiest even though I do tend to be somewhat liberal. I hate the NRA because they just seem to be a religion for gun owners. But I am a gun enthusiest. My problem with 'gun hate talk' is it is just like any hate talk. I have a govt clearance, I have a CCW permit, I have had so many back ground checks done on me, I laugh about it. Most gun owners are law abiding and very responcible. There is no sense in punishing perfectly honest gun enthusiests just because of a handful of nut cases and dangerous gun owners who need anger management. Yes, I support extensive back ground checks, but to go around hating guns is wrong. Don't lump my gun collection and hobby into this mess.
Yesterday, I had some free time and decided to go to a movie. I heard a lot of "intense" stuff about WOLF OF WALL STREET, so I bought a ticket and went in. The theater was empty, so I had my pick, which is "middle-middle" when I can get it.
Soon about 5 other people came in, and that was all we were: 6 people in a large empty theater.
Wouldn't ya know it? A young couple with drinks and popcorn sat down in the row behind me, one seat to my right. As they settled in, they noisily unwrapped their snacks and slurped their drinks and talked in loud whispers.
Annoying, right? Why did they have to sit RIGHT BEHIND me, when the theater was so empty? I guess they were "middle-middle" people, too.
I didn't notice any cell phone/texting, but I couldn't have seen them do it if they had, without getting up and looking directly at them. Texting in a dark theater before the movie doesn't really bother me anyway.
But KICKING THE BACK OF MY SEAT - now THAT BOTHERS ME! If it's little kids, I can let it pass. But adults? I always consider moving to the row behind them, and kicking THEIR seats.
I felt a few pushes and a few inconsiderate whacks to the back of the seat next to me..... the seats are all connected.
WHY must they sit so close, in a large empty theater, and kick my seat??
I felt like shooting them. Or throwing popcorn at them. Luckily, I didn't have either.
Oh, and the movie was intense enough that I forgot all about the noisy, back-kicking couple behind me.