14 shot dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' screening - Page 11

Nidgit · 07-20-2012, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CessnaDriver

Most of my concealed carry capable handguns have night sights and I have practiced in low light conditions. Since this is a typical home burglary scenario. Darkness may have provided cover to get closer to the SOB as well. Either way, I would prefer being armed to not being armed in that situation.

Don't want to pry at all, but is it safe to assume that you have a background in law enforcement or armed forces or something of that nature.

patrickwm68 · 07-20-2012, 08:32 PM

There has to be some history of weirdness or mental illness with this guy, why else would his mother say "You got the right guy" when notified about her sons arrest?

CessnaDriver · 07-20-2012, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nidgit

Don't want to pry at all, but is it safe to assume that you have a background in law enforcement or armed forces or something of that nature.

Grew up with a cop.

CessnaDriver · 07-20-2012, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickwm68

There has to be some history of weirdness or mental illness with this guy, why else would his mother say "You got the right guy" when notified about her sons arrest?

Yeah, I expect there will be red flags that were not acted upon. Seems to often be the pattern.

Tetragrammaton · 07-20-2012, 08:43 PM

While I can understand the desire to be armed all the time for personal protection, I do not think it would have helped much in this situation.

Darken theater filled with tear gas with a chaotic crowd against a shooter wearing body armor and armed with a rifle. Night sights may not be the key issue. The knowledge that there might be armed people in the audience may have been enough to keep this guy from trying this considering he let himself be taken by police.

Nidgit · 07-20-2012, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickwm68

There has to be some history of weirdness or mental illness with this guy, why else would his mother say "You got the right guy" when notified about her sons arrest?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CessnaDriver

Yeah, I expect there will be red flags that were not acted upon. Seems to often be the pattern.

So what checks would this guy have had to go through to buy all of those guns (including the assault rifle). And I'm not sh!t stirring here, I'm genuinely asking what the process is. Obviously they check for a criminal record but what else do they do, and long does it take. And once approved, can he get all of the guns at once or does he have to demonstrate some safe ownership history with a small handgun before he can get an assault rifle ?

ratchet · 07-20-2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nidgit

Absolutely, you can't legislate away crazy. But allowing crazy to walk into a gun shop and legally buy a shotgun, two hand guns and a high powered assault rifle can't be a good thing can it?

Exactly...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwf6171

My wife and I are both taking CCW classes that will enable up to carry for self protection. The hard thing is that with as dark as what a theater is, I think it would have been very difficult to return fire without injuring others in the theater.

This is the issue - people think having MORE guns shooting is the solution? That's just stupid.

Tetragrammaton · 07-20-2012, 08:55 PM

Not certain what the laws are like in Colorado, but here in Montreal it would be a fairly straight forward process to legally obtain any of the firearms used in this shooting.

1. Would have to apply for a Firearms possession license and transport permit. As long as no criminal record or history of mental illness, this would take a couple of months.
2. Would have to pass a basic firearms safety course (4 hours).
3. Would have to have a reason for ownership (Hunting, sports shooting, or collector). Sports shooting would also require membership at a range.
4. The AR-15 rifle and pistols would have to be registered.

While every tragic events involving firearms invariably leads to the discussion on private ownership of guns, I do not think that different gun laws would have changed anything for the better or worse in this case. If he could not get the firearms legally, they would be easy enough to get illegally. If not firearms, he could have used fire to commit the murders. The sad fact is that there is little that can be done to ensure that these tragedies do not occur.

CessnaDriver · 07-20-2012, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nidgit

So what checks would this guy have had to go through to buy all of those guns (including the assault rifle). And I'm not sh!t stirring here, I'm genuinely asking what the process is. Obviously they check for a criminal record but what else do they do, and long does it take. And once approved, can he get all of the guns at once or does he have to demonstrate some safe ownership history with a small handgun before he can get an assault rifle ?

Depends on the state.
In California there is a background check, waiting period. Restrictions on magazine capacity, obviously no full auto firearms. 30 day waiting period between individual handgun purchases. Handguns must be on an approved list. Though there are legal ways around that. A safety quiz must be passed.

It's not difficult for a law abiding individuals to do so and tens of millions of Americans have been doing so for a very long time now.

Again though, someone motivated will find alternate ways. So there is only so much you can do. I think the point of failure will be nobody in his family intervening when those red flags went up.

It sure sounds like the mom knew something.

TNovak · 07-20-2012, 08:57 PM

Wait, isn't it illegal to shoot and kill people? I mean all we need to do is make something illegal and people will abide by the law, right? It's against the law so therefore we shouldn't have to worry about it.

If someone is going to shoot people then they aren't going to obey "gun free" zones ordinances (Virginia Tech campus, just for an example was a gun free zone