Lone Gunman Kills at Least 12 (38 wounded) at Midnight Batman Screening

[Palmateer29]

It really does boggle the mind that people can buy semi-automatic assault rifles.

Yeah. I get shotguns (in rural areas), hunting rifles and, to an extent, handguns being legal, but, I can't find any legitimate reason that a civilian should be able to own any sort of automatic/semi-automatic weapon. They really serve no purpose outside of a warzone or certain areas of law enforcement (and, even that's somewhat questionable). I mean, they're called assault rifles for a reason.

I do know that Montana probably has more guns per capita than anywhere in the States, and when I lived down there if I had $9000 I could buy a 50. Calibre sniper rifle....for "deer hunting" of course. Have to be able to get that deer from a mile away I guess.
Having been in the military and fired quite a number of weapons I am not really impressed with hunters that can hit something from 200 yards. If you want to impress me use a knife  If you can get close enough to bag your deer with a knife I will be impressed.
Sorry just my long winded way of saying I agree with you LOL

 

[maplesyrup]

I get the right to bare arms. I also get the fight to fly airplanes but I think both licenses should be fairly close in difficulty to be obtaining or at least closer then they are now. This whole 4/5 day cooling off period thing in the US is a joke and I really don't mean to sound Anti-American here but our southerly neighbors should be ashamed for it.

 

[bustaheims]

I get the right to bare arms. I also get the fight to fly airplanes but I think both licenses should be fairly close in difficulty to be obtaining or at least closer then they are now. This whole 4/5 day cooling off period thing in the US is a joke and I really don't mean to sound Anti-American here but our southerly neighbors should be ashamed for it.

As much as I dislike guns in general, I also really don't have a problem with the right to bare arms to a point. The biggest issue there is that right shouldn't come without limits - it shouldn't allow civilians to own things like assault rifles, sniper rifles, etc and, like you said, it should come with a more stringent licensing process.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

CNN says all of the guns were bought legally at Bass Pro Shop...

Who doesn't need a semi-automatic rifle for bass fishing?

 

[hockeyfan1]

One often hears the comment "guns don't kill people, people do", mostly from pro-gun activists and like-minded politicians (Republicans & Conservatives).

While true, a gun standing still on a table cannot kill a person on it's own until someone actually fires it, the fact remains that an individual can have access to an array of weapons as this Holmes guy had access to and inflict great damage on a group of people.

The type of guns used, rather than if it was a simple handgun which I doubt would have had the same effect as using an assault rifle during round after successive ammunition round non-stop.

My point to the above paragraph is that the types of massive weapons used is what inflicted the widespread killings and injuries -- all that ammunition flying everywhere in the room -- was more than enough to cause the widespread carnage.

I wish that right-wing Republicans & and ultra conservative people would understand in their funny heads that in America in particular, it is all too sickeningly easy to purchase and obtain weapons, as easily as buying a carton of milk.  As long as there are mentally deranged individuals who can access just about any weapon they want to obtain, mass crimes like these will continue to be prevalent to no end.

Toronto police say that 50% of all illegal guns entering the country come from south of the border, smuggled of course.  As long as the U.S. doesn't do anything about her gun problem, cities like Toronto will bear the brunt of the consequences of that inaction.

 

[WalterSobchak]

I wonder when the first conspiracy theory will be mentioned that this guy is a Manchurian Candidate.

And he'll say He didn't know what he was doing when they ask him why he did it.

 

[Corn Flake]

CNN says all of the guns were bought legally at Bass Pro Shop...

Who doesn't need a semi-automatic rifle for bass fishing?

It saves time AND money.

 

[Corn Flake]

I get the right to bare arms. I also get the fight to fly airplanes but I think both licenses should be fairly close in difficulty to be obtaining or at least closer then they are now. This whole 4/5 day cooling off period thing in the US is a joke and I really don't mean to sound Anti-American here but our southerly neighbors should be ashamed for it.

Yeah I don't think any amount of paperwork, process or psyche tests would catch a guy like this one.  He had no record, only 1 traffic ticket to his name, was in grad school, etc. etc... as clean a record as you could imagine.  He would have slipped right through the cracks.

They simply have to get real in the US and ban the general public from owning any kind semi automatic weapons, period.  If they want to protect themselves with some low calibre pistole or a shotgun then go right ahead.  Zero need to own high calibre handguns, semis or anything else close to it.

Yes there will always be smuggled weapons but at least then you are dealing with active criminals, not Joe Schmoe who can walk into Bass Pro, buy a freaking assault rifle with a form filled out and a friendly smile. 

It certainly won't prevent this from ever happening again but will at least eliminate a significant percentage.

 

[maplesyrup]

Yeah I don't think any amount of paperwork, process or psyche tests would catch a guy like this one.  He had no record, only 1 traffic ticket to his name, was in grad school, etc. etc... as clean a record as you could imagine.  He would have slipped right through the cracks.

They simply have to get real in the US and ban the general public from owning any kind semi automatic weapons, period.  If they want to protect themselves with some low calibre pistole or a shotgun then go right ahead.  Zero need to own high calibre handguns, semis or anything else close to it.

Yes there will always be smuggled weapons but at least then you are dealing with active criminals, not Joe Schmoe who can walk into Bass Pro, buy a freaking assault rifle with a form filled out and a friendly smile. 

It certainly won't prevent this from ever happening again but will at least eliminate a significant percentage.

I don't know... Maybe a background check would have flagged something. I mean, he booby trapped his apartment, right? It's possible something could have been flagged while he was in the process of doing that. It's also possible a skeleton or two will be found in his closet in the coming days... we'll see. 

 

[riff raff]

The guy bought 6000 rounds of ammunition. One would think that would send up some red flags.

Of course if he spreads out his purchases it might not be so easy to track, unless there was some central agency keeping records of who bought what and I can't see the paranoid faction of America allowing that.

The major reason the NRA and gun lobbyists give for having civilians be armed is the need to protect themselves. They would point to an incident like this and say, if someone in the theatre had a gun, they could have stopped this guy.

But, I assume Colorado has the same liberal gun possession laws as the rest of the states - laws that allow citizens to carry concealed weapons. This was a crowded theatre so the law of averages is that there were people in that crowd who had guns. And yet they did not shoot this guy. They did nothing.

Think about it. Just one time someone like this loser starts up and an individual stands up with his Second Amendment Special and takes him down - what a triumph for the NRA and the gun lobby. But we don't get these stories.

I can't help but think that the whole 'defend yourself' aspect of gun ownership is a fantasy.

edit: I just read that the theatre in question forbids concealed weapons. I guess they won't any more.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Yeah I don't think any amount of paperwork, process or psyche tests would catch a guy like this one.  He had no record, only 1 traffic ticket to his name, was in grad school, etc. etc... as clean a record as you could imagine.  He would have slipped right through the cracks.

They simply have to get real in the US and ban the general public from owning any kind semi automatic weapons, period.  If they want to protect themselves with some low calibre pistole or a shotgun then go right ahead.  Zero need to own high calibre handguns, semis or anything else close to it.

Yes there will always be smuggled weapons but at least then you are dealing with active criminals, not Joe Schmoe who can walk into Bass Pro, buy a freaking assault rifle with a form filled out and a friendly smile. 

It certainly won't prevent this from ever happening again but will at least eliminate a significant percentage.

I don't know... Maybe a background check would have flagged something. I mean, he booby trapped his apartment, right? It's possible something could have been flagged while he was in the process of doing that. It's also possible a skeleton or two will be found in his closet in the coming days... we'll see. 

I think he was the perfect candidate to slip through the cracks, personally.

I agree with CF, Busta and others, that when it's easy for civilians to possess military grade automatic weapons, you're going to have horrific tragedies and statistics like this.

I also agree with Nik's feelings towards this and that is unfortunate, because I don't really want to be desensitized to these things.

 

[maplesyrup]

Yeah I don't think any amount of paperwork, process or psyche tests would catch a guy like this one.  He had no record, only 1 traffic ticket to his name, was in grad school, etc. etc... as clean a record as you could imagine.  He would have slipped right through the cracks.

They simply have to get real in the US and ban the general public from owning any kind semi automatic weapons, period.  If they want to protect themselves with some low calibre pistole or a shotgun then go right ahead.  Zero need to own high calibre handguns, semis or anything else close to it.

Yes there will always be smuggled weapons but at least then you are dealing with active criminals, not Joe Schmoe who can walk into Bass Pro, buy a freaking assault rifle with a form filled out and a friendly smile. 

It certainly won't prevent this from ever happening again but will at least eliminate a significant percentage.

I don't know... Maybe a background check would have flagged something. I mean, he booby trapped his apartment, right? It's possible something could have been flagged while he was in the process of doing that. It's also possible a skeleton or two will be found in his closet in the coming days... we'll see. 

I think he was the perfect candidate to slip through the cracks, personally.

I agree with CF, Busta and others, that when it's easy for civilians to possess military grade automatic weapons, you're going to have horrific tragedies and statistics like this.

I also agree with Nik's feelings towards this and that is unfortunate, because I don't really want to be desensitized to these things.

It's possible (even likely I suppose) he'd slip through the cracks though I still think it should be much, MUCH harder to obtain a firearm in the US then it is now. I don't disagree with owning big military grade weapons... I just think that there should be special ranges for that stuff and they shouldn't be allowed off those sites. I also kind of don't agree with the laws that let you carry a piece around in some states. It's just something I don't understand... It's like - just go out and get a fancy sports car like everyone else with a tiny schemeckle and put the boom stick away 

 

[L K]

I mean, he shot 71 people.  If he walked in there with non-automatic pistols, yeah, he still shoots and maybe kills 10 people, but between reloading and the optics of a guy with a significantly smaller gun, I think someone has the courage to take him down in that theater and limit the massacre. 

Instead, you have a guy walking around with semi-automatic pistols and an assault rifle with 100 rounds.  It looks intimidating and you know he can shoot a hell of a lot more people between reloads.

 

[bustaheims]

I mean, he shot 71 people.  If he walked in there with non-automatic pistols, yeah, he still shoots and maybe kills 10 people, but between reloading and the optics of a guy with a significantly smaller gun, I think someone has the courage to take him down in that theater and limit the massacre. 

Instead, you have a guy walking around with semi-automatic pistols and an assault rifle with 100 rounds.  It looks intimidating and you know he can shoot a hell of a lot more people between reloads.

Not to mention the back he was covered in body armor. That has to be one of the intimating and frightening things to witness - and the fact that he had smoke bombs as well . . . if he just had handguns, with the smoke bombs he had set off, he may not have even hit anyone, because he might not have been able to see them himself, but, with assault rifle, that's no longer an issue.

 

[Tigger]

I dunno, if he already had a 'bomb' mentality and was intelligent but nuts he could have just as easily tossed in a pipe bomb or two then walked in with handguns/shotgun.

I don't like guns for the most part and the ease of acquiring one is pretty daunting but I don't know that ultra tough gun laws are going to stop a guy like this, never mind black market availability.

I mean, Marc Lepine killed 14, injured 14 and at least 4 of the wounded were shot trying to stop him in a relatively well lit place with a semi automatic hunting rifle that I think you can still buy in Canada today.

On top of that, you have a seated crowd that has to crawl all over themselves to either escape or get to him, it's just a nightmare situation that has no easy answers.

Tougher gun laws might have saved some wounded but it seems like a hollow sort of victory even if true. I can't remember who I'm paraphrasing this from but I mean, sure, honour the original context of the right to bear arms and let everyone have muskets or something.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

In my mind, harsher gun laws would make it so that not anyone with enough money, including people who would do this sort of thing, can just waltz in and buy the gun just like that.  To be honest, I don't even know the process in Canada to purchase a gun, because it's not something I've grown up with being easy to obtain, or even something I ever thought of owning because I didn't know many people who had guns.  And those that I did were strictly their parents owning hunting rifles.

If it's not easy to load up on guns and ammo, your plans to do something like this become a lot more difficult, and you have to put yourself at more risk of being caught before it happens.  That's how I view it anyways.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Crazy that this probably won't get the media attention, but 21 people were shot in Chicago over Friday night: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-wounded-in-englewood-shooting-20120720,0,705754.story

 

[Kin]

I dunno, if he already had a 'bomb' mentality and was intelligent but nuts he could have just as easily tossed in a pipe bomb or two then walked in with handguns/shotgun.

I don't like guns for the most part and the ease of acquiring one is pretty daunting but I don't know that ultra tough gun laws are going to stop a guy like this, never mind black market availability.

That's such a cop-out though. A guy could go buy a truck full of diesel fuel and fertilizer too but that's somehow a compelling argument that you shouldn't limit the weapons random people off the street have access too? Or that it's not significantly easier to shoot a huge number of people with an AR-15 than it is a hand gun?

Marc Lepine shot people he had herded together in a classroom with one exit. They had no chance to run away. A movie theatre, by law, has multiple exits. As soon as people knew he was shooting, people started to run away to the other exits. That he was able to shoot as many people in as short a time as he did is a testament to the problem of the weapons he had available to him.

Yes, if he only had hand guns or bolt action rifles he still could have shot people. But nowhere near as many. That's the issue.

 

[TML fan]

Make it illegal to sell bullets. There's nothing in the Cobstitution about bullets.

 

[iwas11in67]

Crazy that this probably won't get the media attention, but 21 people were shot in Chicago over Friday night: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-wounded-in-englewood-shooting-20120720,0,705754.story

This reminds me of the time that the Detroit mayor called Windsor Sin City cause they were selling Cuban cigars and our strip clubs allowed the girls to go fully naked. It was a pathetic statement due to the fact that, at the time, Windsor had 1 murder every 3 years and Detroit averaged 3 per day.