(no subject)

[kebechet]

So, I keep seeing people go on and on about how if other people in the theatre had been packing, the tragedy in Colorado could be averted.

People of the Someone Should Have Shot Back mindset, are you saying that in a darkened theatre filled with smoke and an unidentifiable gas, hundreds of screaming, scrambling, panicking people, and gunfire, under the duress of unimaginable terror, adrenaline, and fight or flight, you would have had the presence of mind to pull out a gun, release the safety, take aim, and headshot a kevlar-armored moving target without injuring or (heaven forbid) killing a fair number of bystanders in the process? Are you confident that other law-abiding gun-toters in the theatre would be possessed of this same mystical composure?

It's good to know that there are so many SWAT and Navy Seal-trained laymen out there ready to protect us at the drop of a hat.

What happened at the Batman premiere is horrible beyond comprehension. My heart goes out to everyone that is suffering because of that madman.

Comments

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

I think the hoo-has that are suggesting it are probably the last ones who would ever admit they'd make the situation worse.

[mojomomma68.livejournal.com]

You are so right. My daughter was at a midnight premier last night and had she been in that theater the last thing I would want is a bunch of gun nuts adding more bullets to the mayhem. I cannot even explain how deeply this breaks my heart and am sickened to the core that gun supporters would use this tragedy to promote their cause. I love that in hind site all these people seem to think they are super snipers who would make Jason Bourne seem like an amateur.

[lights.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU.

Fucking hell. I live in a suburb of Houston (less than 20 miles from a town legally called Cut and Shoot, Texas.. I wish I were lying about that) and everyone and their dog has a gun. I've known people who've started teaching their three-year-olds how to properly hold a gun. EVERYONE around here has that same "I'd have shot back!" mindset, and it pisses me off.

This shooter was wearing a tactical ballistic vest, a ballistic helmet, gas mask, gloves, a throat protector and a groin protector, carrying - last I heard - two handguns, a shotgun and an AK-47. I'm so thrilled to know the redneck asshats around here are TOTALLY CAPABLE OF HANDLING THAT SITUATION. :|

[(Anonymous)]

I lack the composure to make any insightful comments here, mainly because the Twitter reportage on the BBC included a summary that it's a pretty rough neighbourhood, and things like that aren't a surprise?!

Sorry, what? There's a part of the world where a mass killing in a civilian, entertainment space occurs and you f*cking say this could be *expected*?!

And the idea that someone could have shot back is utterly bloody mental. For pity's sake, people, if guns were a wee bit harder to come by, you think this would have happened?

[stephanielay.livejournal.com]

Sorry, m'dear - that last anon was me. Must have been logged out while pottering around making tea.

[bassclefgirl.livejournal.com]

I was at a mini-conference a few years ago and ended up in a session about workplace safety. Woman running it started off with playing the Columbine 911 call ('cause I totally signed up for that!), and then putting forth the idea that if the teachers and/or other adults there had been carrying, the tragedy could have ended sooner.

I teach. I can do a lot of things well at the front of a classroom. The idea that taking down a shooter ought to be one of them? Beyond baffling.

That was the first time I remember hearing the "we'd all be safer if everyone was carrying" narrative. It's still as mind-boggling as it's ever been. I guess it's just another shade of victim-blaming, so it shouldn't really surprise me that much, but... goddamn.

[msnursekins.livejournal.com]

I took my 12 year old son to a midnight showing last night and heard the news this morning.It could have happened to any of us at any theater anywhere....it is chilling when the act of going to a movie event is a "risk"...but the view on if more people in the theater were armed and trained would have improved the situation is beyond logic.You would have taken a situation that is a tragedy to one of epic level in mere moments.In the confusion on a dark theater with many people wearing"black" all moving in a chaotic fashion throw in shock noise...yes let's just throw in more weapon fire??!!!I do not care how well trained you are the number of 13 would have been 100 before you knew it...
that is the most illogical insane thought...I just can not understand any viewpoint for adding anymore gunfire in that type of environment...NO LOGICAL WAY

[nightpaws.livejournal.com]

I am sure that theater didn't even allow guns in the first place.

I think people say stuff like that because they are afraid of feeling helpless, and they want to appear as if they could have done something. We have had a couple of training talks at work regarding an active shooter situation. The police chief even told all of us that others shooting back is their idea of the WORST thing that can happen due to the chaos of the situation. Our having access to utility spaces, and general knowledge of the building so we can help get others to safety is the best.

Things like this bring out The Stupid on the internet. Unfortunately The Stupid tends to be the most vocal majority.

[loucheroo.livejournal.com]

Very well said. Thank you.

[baranduyn.livejournal.com]

They always say that. They said this after the awful shooting in Tucson. However, Arizona has amongst the laxest gun laws in the world. Three people WERE packing. One pulled his gun only to realize he'd nearly shot a rescue worker and the other two never thought to go for their guns. Most likely, as the scene was chaotic, there would have been more wounds and maybe more death among the victims.

It's the wrong answer, always has been. People say these things in order to assure themselves such an awful horror could never have happened to them. And it's always false comfort, complete bullshit.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I read over the weekend that there were people packing when Senator Gifford was shot, but no-one pulled their gun as they didn't want to be mistaken for the shooter. So having more people packing is absolutely pointless (not to mention as you say, incredibly more dangerous in those panicky circumstances).

Also, depressingly, that opinion polls lean towards more relaxed gun control laws in the wake of a tragedy like this. The mind fucking boggles.