Breaking News: Over 20 shot at Colorado movie theater

[F350-6]

I just think the teargas would have seriously blinded you, making it next to impossible to aim in the dark.

Not as much as you would think. Trying to breathe clean air takes a higher priority, your mind will make your eyes deal with it until you can get to fresh air. And shooting with a gas mask on isn't exactly easy either.

Unfortunately, the media won't inform everyone of things that could have been done to limit the casualties. Concealed weapons or not, a room full of 200 people and only one shooter. If everyone would have charged the shooter, he would have been trampled before he had a chance to shoot 71 folks. Of course, if everyone had the mindset to be that pro-active, they would probably be carrying.

 

[#1gunner]

If you have ever worn a gas mask you know how hard it is to do normal things that are simply without it. It is a lot harder to breath and it affects depth perception(to me at least) and it a lot harder to see. Simply focus on what your doing so you can hurry and get the mask off after your dont with whatever your doing.

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

If the cans had an actually chemical release instead of smoke....also, seems the chicken s*** was shooting those running out the exit and piling at the door....unfortunate.....

 

[lalonguecarabine]

I'm gonna have to disagree a bit with those who say they would have fought back.
IF I saw an opportunity, then I would obviously have acted...

But how clear was any opportunity to those in that theater that fateful night?
Having had to shoot and move while choking on gas, I can tell you that it can be done, but it's nowhere near easy.
See - the Marine Corps trained me, and thousands of other guys to do that.

You know what they did not train us for?
The ability to do the above movements with your wife next to you screaming, or heaven forbid - your children clawing you for safety and comfort screaming "DADDY, WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
Or maybe your children are no longer in view... but you can hear them screaming!
How calm and precise of a pistolero are you now?!

Are you really gonna send off rounds in a darkened, flashing (movie still running), and smoke filled theater with nearly a hundred innocent people running around in all manner of directions?

As some have plainly stated, this is a situation unlike any we've imagined thus far.
It was terrible in every single manner. And I'm kinda getting a bit too emotional to finish this reply.

 

[Whiskey_Rocka_Rolla]

Not as much as you would think. Trying to breathe clean air takes a higher priority, your mind will make your eyes deal with it until you can get to fresh air. And shooting with a gas mask on isn't exactly easy either.

Unfortunately, the media won't inform everyone of things that could have been done to limit the casualties. Concealed weapons or not, a room full of 200 people and only one shooter. If everyone would have charged the shooter, he would have been trampled before he had a chance to shoot 71 folks. Of course, if everyone had the mindset to be that pro-active, they would probably be carrying.

Good point, I'll take your word for it, since I'm assuming you're a marine. I've never been in a situation like that, simulated or real. Pray to God I never am. But yeah, there is no doubt about it, if I were there and I knew I had a clear shot to him and him only, I'd have unloaded on his ass. BP vest or not I'd have put 11 9mm Gold Dots on his ass and I'm sure at least one would have found its mark.

 

[zembonez]

I still say a real man in the audience should have taken this moron down as he headed up the aisle shooting 70 of the 250 people there. F**k a bunch of hoping he runs out of ammo. Armed or not, it would not take superhero strength to drop this guy to the floor and save a bunch of people from getting shot. Once he was down, even the least brave would have chipped in and helped.

I don't get the whole victim mentality most people exhibit these days. I make no claims of being a hero or a tough guy... I just would not stand by and watch.

 

[semperloco]

It's easy to be an arm chair quarterback. Witnesses say there was a movie trailer of someone shooting up a theater and then this guy jumps up and starts doing it. Many thought it was movie promo theatrics until people started falling down bleeding.

Also, there are movie seats all around. They don't give you a solid base to lunge over. They rock and give and you wind up a pile of arms and legs - a target. I saw headlines on Drudge about guys that died protecting their girlfriends from shots fired. The theater was a gun free zone - people were not allowed to have their weapons in there. If they had, things may have been different. Someone else may have been hit accidentally but if the place had not been a kill zone the guy might not have picked it for a place to attack. When was the last time you heard of someone attacking a gun range? Shooters always want unarmed targets. Get ahold of your legislators and head off the gun control fervor that will inevitably come from the child-minded liberals. We have to be active about this. They say, "Never let a crisis go to waste." We're in for a fight.

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

^^^^+1

 

[zembonez]

I agree and understand the difficulty of the task at hand. I guess we all just like to think that we would have been able to save some of these innocent people if we were there. I don't want to be the hero... I'd just want to try and stop morons like this one before they can do much damage.

 

[kris lee]

I'm gonna have to disagree a bit with those who say they would have fought back.
IF I saw an opportunity, then I would obviously have acted...

But how clear was any opportunity to those in that theater that fateful night?
Having had to shoot and move while choking on gas, I can tell you that it can be done, but it's nowhere near easy.
See - the Marine Corps trained me, and thousands of other guys to do that.

You know what they did not train us for?
The ability to do the above movements with your wife next to you screaming, or heaven forbid - your children clawing you for safety and comfort screaming "DADDY, WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
Or maybe your children are no longer in view... but you can hear them screaming!
How calm and precise of a pistolero are you now?!

Are you really gonna send off rounds in a darkened, flashing (movie still running), and smoke filled theater with nearly a hundred innocent people running around in all manner of directions?

As some have plainly stated, this is a situation unlike any we've imagined thus far.
It was terrible in every single manner. And I'm kinda getting a bit too emotional to finish this reply.

Excellent points!

 

[Whiskey_Rocka_Rolla]

It's easy to be an arm chair quarterback. Witnesses say there was a movie trailer of someone shooting up a theater and then this guy jumps up and starts doing it. Many thought it was movie promo theatrics until people started falling down bleeding.

Also, there are movie seats all around. They don't give you a solid base to lunge over. They rock and give and you wind up a pile of arms and legs - a target. I saw headlines on Drudge about guys that died protecting their girlfriends from shots fired. The theater was a gun free zone - people were not allowed to have their weapons in there. If they had, things may have been different. Someone else may have been hit accidentally but if the place had not been a kill zone the guy might not have picked it for a place to attack. When was the last time you heard of someone attacking a gun range? Shooters always want unarmed targets. Get ahold of your legislators and head off the gun control fervor that will inevitably come from the child-minded liberals. We have to be active about this. They say, "Never let a crisis go to waste." We're in for a fight.

Yeah and while us rationally thinking people are trying to eliminate "gun free zones" aka "kill zones" aka "criminal safezones" aka "places I refuse to go anymore unless I have no choice", the moron left wing anti gun fanatics are trying to make the entire world a "gun free zone". They are truly out of their damn minds, and their lack of reasoning and irresponsibility in lobbying is downright dangerous. The sad part is I believe some of them know they are wrong but are just too proud to admit it.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Unexpected.

Colorado shooting spree could have been worse; shooter’s gun jammed, official says - The Washington Post

Press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Colorado, “The president’s view is that we can take steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them under existing law.”

 

[F350-6]

Good point, I'll take your word for it, since I'm assuming you're a marine. I've never been in a situation like that, simulated or real. Pray to God I never am. But yeah, there is no doubt about it, if I were there and I knew I had a clear shot to him and him only, I'd have unloaded on his ass. BP vest or not I'd have put 11 9mm Gold Dots on his ass and I'm sure at least one would have found its mark.

You've got the idea. I've been in many situations, and had plenty of training (years ago), but the "clear shot" is the question that none of us can answer. Since I don't know the path the shooter took or the exact layout of the theater, I don't know how many "clear shot seats" there may have been.

And the even harder question is, if you were sitting in the rear half of the theater and took cover as he approached and you waited for your shot, how steady would your hand be after listening to so many others getting shot, and the screaming and tears of those who hadn't been shot yet?

I wasn't there, so I won't judge anyone who was and may have had a weapon. I know what I like to think I would have had the chance to do if I had been there, but I don't know if I would have had the opportunity. Perhaps my best approach would have been to hit the deck and wait for him to get closer, and he never made it that far. All I can do now is pray for the victims and pray for swift justice for "the joker".

 

[Whiskey_Rocka_Rolla]

You've got the idea. I've been in many situations, and had plenty of training (years ago), but the "clear shot" is the question that none of us can answer. Since I don't know the path the shooter took or the exact layout of the theater, I don't know how many "clear shot seats" there may have been.

And the even harder question is, if you were sitting in the rear half of the theater and took cover as he approached and you waited for your shot, how steady would your hand be after listening to so many others getting shot, and the screaming and tears of those who hadn't been shot yet?

I wasn't there, so I won't judge anyone who was and may have had a weapon. I know what I like to think I would have had the chance to do if I had been there, but I don't know if I would have had the opportunity. Perhaps my best approach would have been to hit the deck and wait for him to get closer, and he never made it that far. All I can do now is pray for the victims and pray for swift justice for "the joker".

He needs to be dropped off a skyscraper just like his role model was at the end of the movie. He wants to act like a villian in a cartoon let him get treated like one. There's a big ass skyscraper right next to my house that would be perfect for throwing his ass off of.

 

[kyletxria1911a1]

^^^^^ now ya talkin

 

[Whiskey_Rocka_Rolla]

I bet whatever psycho is plotting out his next shooting spree would think twice if that's how we dealt with them. People keep pretending like restricting guns rights is going to stop something, that won't do a damn thing. Start throwing their asses off of cliffs and skyscrapers, or take them on a one way trip to the Indian Ocean and I guarantee you the mass shootings will cease to exist. Problem solved, NEXT...

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Question:

Say sombody did shoot back & kill him, but in doing so also killed an innocent....what happens then?

 

[#1gunner]

Question:

Say sombody did shoot back & kill him, but in doing so also killed an innocent....what happens then?

I thought the same thing the day it happened. Grey area that I have no idea on but a very good question. I just didnt want to ask it but im glad you brought it up. I would think something like this would be somewhat different than say your defending your life and accidently hit someone(richochet or straight shot). Either way it would be horrible

 

[TexasRedneck]

Been wondering the same....IIRC, *Texas* law says that any injury/damage/death that occurs in the commission of a crime is "owned" by the perp - #1, we're talking about a different state, and #2, not sure just how it would be handled in Texas, but would hope it would "fall" onto the criminal.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Thanks!
Was hoping I wouldn't get any "crap" for asking the question.
And I was refering to it happening in Texas.