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1   thomaswong.1986   2012 Jul 21, 9:53am  

HRHMedia says

People stop crime, Gun's do not stop crime

I dont expect the police or security guards to stop carrying guns, nor should they.

2   thomaswong.1986   2012 Jul 21, 10:02am  

Legally Armed Customer Stops West Virginia Convenience Store Robbery
Written by Duncan Mackie on November 1, 2011

A masked, shotgun-wielding man was in the act of robbing a Bramwell convenience store when an armed customer intervened. With the robber still pointing his shotgun at the store clerk, and fearing for his own and the clerk’s life, the customer pulled his legally-carried concealed pistol and shot the robber, killing him. No charges are being filed against the armed customer.

3   MAGA   2012 Jul 21, 10:08am  

jvolstad packing heat. Top row, far left side.

4   Vicente   2012 Jul 21, 10:22am  

So here's the reality. I was a competitive pistol shooter at national level in IPSC back in the 90's. Also considered myself pro-RKBA.

As a former concealed-carry permit holder in Georgia, I would only sometimes carry a pistol. Many times, too much trouble to conceal. I mean seriously I'm wearing shorts and sandals and a T-shirt much of the year. In wintertime I was much more likely to because it was easier.

There were also situational decisions. Going out to a place I felt "safe" well likely not. Who expects to get trouble in a movie cinema?

Clearly Colorado was RKBA-friendly as could be. There's not much policy-wise could have made it easier except maybe give people discounts for carrying a sidearm to encourage it. Not one armed citizen in the audience. And I can see why, it's HOT and it's a "safe" place. If there had been? Say I'm in that audience, I'm a darn good shot, and I happen to be armed. After I get over my confusion thinking maybe this is 4D or some promotional thing, and manage not to have gotten shot already myself.... I draw and execute a reflexive double-tap to center of mass. Target doesn't go down because he's got body armor. Next I'm probably getting a shotgun blast in return in the second I've hesitated to assess the situation and decide next action. Would we be able to draw some grand conclusion from this? I think not.

My 2 cents.

5   Randy H   2012 Jul 21, 10:37am  

Vicente ... Thanks for finally bringing some reality to the armchair vigilantes out there. Oh...you forgot the part about shaking off the tear gas, flushing your eyes, then donning your own protective gear....

6   freak80   2012 Jul 21, 11:10am  

Yeah that's the thing about "crowded" situations. Let's say you're in a stadium with everyone packing heat, and some sociopath starts shooting people at random.

Everyone else better be a "very" good shot to avoid "collateral damage." And that assumes everyone is thinking clearly. I'd probably be sh*tting myself, armed or not.

7   swebb   2012 Jul 21, 12:07pm  

Vicente says

Not one armed citizen in the audience. And I can see why, it's HOT and it's a "safe" place.

This whole thing went down 10 miles from me. Sorta strange.

As far as no one in the audience being armed, a few thoughts.

1. Not sure about this theater, but don't businesses have the right to prohibit weapons. Maybe only certain businesses (banks, for example)? But I could imagine a weapons ban in place at the theater, which would explain why no one had a weapon.

2. Consider the crowd. It's a midnight opening of Batman. I'm thinking younger end of the spectrum, here. Not that young people can't carry, but I would expect the packing public to be older, on average...

8   Randy H   2012 Jul 21, 12:52pm  

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

Concealed carry is for assholes. Everyone should have a hunting rifle on them at all times, loaded and ready to rock and roll. Gun deaths would drop to zero.

Yea, because no one ever got drunk and shot their buddy accidentally with a hunting rifle. Oh wait...our VP did that a few years back???

9   xrpb11a   2012 Jul 21, 1:26pm  

Fail.
People without a gun will not stop the crime. They will become the victim.

HRHMedia says

If you make the argument Gun's don't kill people, people kill people with guns then by the same logic......People stop crime, Gun's do not stop crime

Social Media Guru Since 1999

10   bdrasin   2012 Jul 21, 1:42pm  

If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will accidentally shoot their own kids.

13   TMAC54   2012 Jul 21, 3:07pm  

HRHMedia says

If you make the argument Gun's don't kill people, people kill people with guns then by the same logic......People stop crime, Gun's do not stop crime

Social Media Guru Since 1999

99% of crimes ARE solved without guns ???
We SHOULD use guns on fraudulent bankers instead of allowing them to settle with one tenth of what they burned us for. Now they know better and are already scheming their next assault.
Hypothetical : I am a burglar. I know you have a gun, and I also know the guy two doors down, don't ..... Let's wager who gets burgled or worse.
This latest Colorado incident was NOT about guns. He would have hurt people with marshmallows if he had nothing else. He wanted attention, now he got some.

(To bad the media won't allow us access to his intended messege.)

14   HEY YOU   2012 Jul 21, 4:39pm  

An associate once said "If someone wants you dead,your dead,whether your armed or not."

Damn! The truth not always pleasant.

15   kentm   2012 Jul 22, 10:30pm  

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

Concealed carry is for assholes. Everyone should have a hunting rifle on them at all times, loaded and ready to rock and roll. Gun deaths would drop to zero.

"hunting rifle"? Pussy.

16   kentm   2012 Jul 22, 10:35pm  

Bad example on the William Burroughs quote. He murdered his wife playing gun games.

17   TMAC54   2012 Jul 22, 11:55pm  

kentm says

Bad example on the William Burroughs quote. He murdered his wife playing gun games.

If the psychopath had no guns and he blockaded the theater and lit it on fire or some other heinous scheme. How many would have died ?

All around America, You can still see remnants of outposts protecting our shores from potential foreign intruders.
Might they have anticipated an armed society ?
Stop listening to the emotion driven media. We are better off with the right to bear arms.

18   foxmannumber1   2012 Jul 23, 12:20am  

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/bvvc.pdf

Hundreds of people are shot each week in urban cities. The shooting are super majority black on black crime.

Most murders are committed with a gun. In most murders, the race of victim and murderer are the same. When murders cross racial lines, black on white crime far exceeds white on black crime.

This country has a black problem, not a gun problem.

Other interesting points:

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf

Blacks were disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders

From 1980 through 2008—
84% of white victims were killed by whites.
93% of black victims were killed by blacks.

19   wbblair3   2012 Jul 23, 12:48am  

Vicente says

Clearly Colorado was RKBA-friendly as could be. There's not much policy-wise could have made it easier except maybe give people discounts for carrying a sidearm to encourage it. Not one armed citizen in the audience. And I can see why, it's HOT and it's a "safe" place.

That theater and many others have a blanket rule that prohibits firearms in the theater. The theater where this occurred even had a sign to that effect that I believe I read about somewhere. As a result, CCW holders wouldn't have wanted to risk their permits by carrying. Like all criminals, however, Holmes didn't care about "official policy" or laws.

And, BTW, I personally have never, EVER considered a very large group of people sitting in a darkened room with exits typically only in one direction as "safe." There have been numerous mall shootings and theaters are far more of a potential kill zone than malls. I'm surprised this sort of event hasn't happened before now.

If there had been? Say I'm in that audience, I'm a darn good shot, and I happen to be armed. After I get over my confusion thinking maybe this is 4D or some promotional thing, and manage not to have gotten shot already myself.... I draw and execute a reflexive double-tap to center of mass. Target doesn't go down because he's got body armor. Next I'm probably getting a shotgun blast in return in the second I've hesitated to assess the situation and decide next action. Would we be able to draw some grand conclusion from this? I think not.

I'm with you there. No saying what I would have done in that situation unless directly in his sights and next to be shot. A big potential boost for the utility of laser sights, though. Kneel using seat back for support, red dot on any unprotected area of shooter and fire. The movie was still rolling when he started shooting and, I assume, would have continued to roll while he continued to fire (since the projectors in modern theaters are automated) so there would easily have been enough light to see where he was wearing body armor before returning fire.

And on the topic of guns in America, the truth is this. There is NEVER, EVER going to be a ban on guns in this country or confiscation of them and there are already enough tactical semi-auto firearms and high capacity magazines in circulation to last for a very long time, so any complete ban is only going to result in those firearms gradually migrating to criminal elements _away from_ the law abiding via thefts. The best route is to make the criminals always fear that there's a civilian "cop" somewhere directly behind him no matter what direction he's facing. That uncertainty exists for them in any state with CCW _except_ in gun free zones like, for instance, the Aurora theater where this shooting took place.

20   chemechie   2012 Jul 23, 2:01am  

Vicente says

Clearly Colorado was RKBA-friendly as could be. There's not much policy-wise could have made it easier except maybe give people discounts for carrying a sidearm to encourage it.

Colorado may be, but Aurora isn't - concealed carry is outlawed in the entire town; some states allow local gun laws, some don't; apparently Colorado does.

wbblair3 says

That theater and many others have a blanket rule that prohibits firearms in the theater. The theater where this occurred even had a sign to that effect that I believe I read about somewhere. As a result, CCW holders wouldn't have wanted to risk their permits by carrying.

Whether or not business can block legal concealed carry depends on the state - some allow it, some don't, and in some states the ability to block legal carry is more publicized than others. For example, both West Virginia and Ohio allow business to ban legal concealed carry, but it is unheard of to ban it in West Virginia and very common to ban it in Ohio.

wbblair3 says

And, BTW, I personally have never, EVER considered a very large group of people sitting in a darkened room with exits typically only in one direction as "safe."

I am with you there - whether it is a shooting, fire, or some thing else that induces panic, large groups in the dark can easily become deadly. I carry a flashlight with me when I am around large groups of people in the dark (concerts, church, fireworks, etc).

21   taxee   2012 Jul 23, 2:05am  

Along with the pension payment for retired police and military we should have the requirement that you carry and test until you can't shoot or think straight.

22   AverageBear   2012 Jul 23, 3:07am  

bdrasin says

If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will accidentally shoot their own kids.

---------------------------------------
Say what you want about the safety of guns w/ kids in the same house. But here's a fact: More kids die when parents own a swimming pool WAAAY more than those parents that own a gun. Sooo, by your logic, do we ban all swimming pools? Facts can be found in Freakonomics; a fantastic, eye-opening read that deals w/ statistics, fact and truth.

23   freak80   2012 Jul 23, 3:32am  

AverageBear says

More kids die when parents own a swimming pool WAAAY more than those parents that own a gun.

I don't doubt it.

Yeah guns can accidentally kill. So can lawnmowers. And automobiles. Heck, an automobile is basically a 3000 pound guided-missle. Especially if you're texting while "guiding" it.

24   bdrasin   2012 Jul 23, 4:16am  

AverageBear says

bdrasin says

If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will accidentally shoot their own kids.

---------------------------------------
Say what you want about the safety of guns w/ kids in the same house. But here's a fact: More kids die when parents own a swimming pool WAAAY more than those parents that own a gun. Sooo, by your logic, do we ban all swimming pools? Facts can be found in Freakonomics; a fantastic, eye-opening read that deals w/ statistics, fact and truth.

Yes, I've seen that. They are actually measuring:
( deaths by pool)/(number of pools) vs (deaths by gun)/(number of guns)

Since there are way more guns (200 million guns vs 11k pools) the number isn't close. I don't think that's really the right comparison. If you look at the absolute numbers of deaths you get a much different picture; for example in 2004 there were about 30k deaths by firearms vs 3.3k deaths by drowning (not all of them in pools; I don't know offhand the breakdown) in the US. And the number of firearms is growing much, much faster than the number of pools!

Anyway, like I've said elsewhere it doesn't really matter. A large plurality (if not a majority) of Americans think that unrestricted gun ownership is a basic human right. They are wrong. But politicians, not surprisingly, will probably continue to follow their constituents.

25   Tenpoundbass   2012 Jul 23, 4:40am  

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/politics/obama-gun-debate/index.html?hpt=hp_bn3

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

President Obama has largely avoided the subject while in office
Gun control advocate: Obama "has shown a lack of leadership in standing up to the gun lobby"
White House spokespeople have been consistently vague when pressed on gun rights
Obama has been repeatedly attacked by the National Rifle Association, a gun rights group

26   Tenpoundbass   2012 Jul 23, 4:41am  

Obama is a "Little" something for everybody.

A Little "TOO Little" if you ask me.

Rabble rabble rabble!!!

27   Honest Abe   2012 Jul 23, 4:49am  

When seconds count, call 911, they'll be there in just a few minutes, or hours, the next day, or not at all. Good luck!

Libs can't stand personal responsibility...even if that responsibility is to protect themselves or their families. "The State" will protect me.

28   freak80   2012 Jul 23, 5:06am  

bdrasin says

They are wrong.

Are they?

29   Honest Abe   2012 Jul 23, 5:21am  

Todays book recommendation: "Death by Gun Control" by Aaron Zelman.

For additional info about firearm ownership go to: jpfo.org
Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership.

30   lenar   2012 Jul 23, 5:21am  

Century has a strict anti-gun business policy. It's a gun-free zone (I'll spare obvious puns here)

Disarming patrons and not providing security of their own – I wonder if it's sufficient cause for legal action in aftermath.

31   freak80   2012 Jul 23, 5:27am  

lenar says

Disarming patrons and not providing security of their own – I wonder if it's sufficient cause for legal action in aftermath.

I can tell you're a lawyer...;-)

32   bob2356   2012 Jul 23, 5:31am  

Honest Abe says

When seconds count, call 911, they'll be there in just a few minutes, or hours, the next day, or not at all. Good luck!

Libs can't stand personal responsibility...even if that responsibility is to protect themselves or their families. "The State" will protect me.

So you are saying that law abiding conservative citizens should have protected themselves by breaking the law against concealed weapons in Aurora? Isn't the definition of anarchy when the citizens hold the state to be immoral and oppose the authority of the state. That makes sense, advocate anarchy to bring order. Sort of like 1984 "obedience is freedom", that kind of thing? I always have to admire your logic Abe.

33   lenar   2012 Jul 23, 5:36am  

Not a lawyer. I would've known the answer if I were.

They chose to implement gun-free policy - fine. But it should come with door checks and/or security; otherwise it's just selective disarmament of the law abiding.

34   freak80   2012 Jul 23, 5:52am  

bob2356 says

Isn't the definition of anarchy when the citizens hold the state to be immoral and oppose the authority of the state.

Not necessarily. I believe the US government is corrupt and immoral, but I do not want to overthrow it. I just want some of the corruption cleaned up.

35   Honest Abe   2012 Jul 23, 6:52am  

Bob2356 - I must have hit a nerve! In case you didn't know, response times HAVE been hours, that same day, the next day, and some NEVER showed up. Thats got to give you a lot of comfort, right? In fact the police have NO legal obligation to "protect" you at all. [Warren v. District of Columbia]

I don't know what your rant about anarchy was about. Did you forget your medication today?

36   StillLooking   2012 Jul 23, 7:30am  

What about my right not to own a gun?

If there were no guns, we would all be much safer. Guns shoot 100,000 a year in the USA. So what would happen to those hundred thousand if there were no guns?

The only logical argument for legal guns is population control but if population is the problem there must be a better solution.

And people are basically animals and if one watches nature shows, it is pretty obvious that animals can be pretty darn brutal against their own kind, especially the male. It makes no sense to arm already brutal men with more means to maim and kill.

37   Honest Abe   2012 Jul 23, 7:59am  

What about your right not to own a gun? There are about 1,100 accidental deaths per year and about 17,000 murders involving guns. However DEFENSIVE use of guns occur about 3 million times per year, of which 92% of the time, no shot was fired.

When a crazed, brutal man is breaking into your house RIGHT NOW, do you reach for your gun to protect yourself and your family, or do you frantiaclly dial 911 and pray the authority's get to your house in the next five to ten minutes?

Again, the police have NO legal obligation to protect you or your family.

Al Capone said "You can get a lot further with a smile and a gun then you can with just a smile".

38   lenar   2012 Jul 23, 8:20am  

StillLooking says

What about my right not to own a gun?

You confuse gun ownership with Obamacare.

39   bdrasin   2012 Jul 23, 8:52am  

Honest Abe says

What about your right not to own a gun? There are about 1,100 accidental deaths per year and about 17,000 murders involving guns. However DEFENSIVE use of guns occur about 3 million times per year, of which 92% of the time, no shot was fired.

Yeah, sure...I'll believe it when I read it from a source that doesn't use self-reporting from gun owners for its data. And...that's why the United States, with its uniquely high level of gun ownership compared to other developed countries, also has a uniquely low level of violent crime (not). All those guns sure are making us safe. As Dr. Phil would ask, "How's that workin' for you"?

40   bob2356   2012 Jul 23, 9:29am  

Honest Abe says

I don't know what your rant about anarchy was about. Did you forget your medication today?

Pretty simple reading, I thought you could handle it. Sorry I overestimated.

So your solution is that every person have a weapon at all times? A gun at home maybe, I am a good shot, but I think I would just shag out rather than shoot someone in my house. I had a carry permit once for a job and had to take a course that included a lot on the Castle Doctrine to get it. Pretty eye opening. You have a duty to retreat in most states or you can end up sued or charged. Even stand your ground states you can get into trouble if you don't get everything right. Better course of action is to simply get out of harms way. The idea that common burglars are going to chase you down is just fiction. I do remember my instructor, a moonlighting cop, pointed out that homes with guns are 3 times a likely to have someone shot and killed than homes without and only 3% of those were self defense against a stranger. The rest were relatives and friends. I had never heard that before then, disturbing.

Honest Abe says

However DEFENSIVE use of guns occur about 3 million times per year, of which 92% of the time, no shot was fired.

That's odd. The FBI only reports 200 defensive gun uses that resulted in death per year. So 8% of 3 million is 24000 where a shot was fired. That means 23,800 people only got wounded? Pretty piss poor shooting. Once you wound someone they are highly motivated to kill you quickly as possible. I never did believe the defensive use of guns numbers.

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