I'm sure this will spark many debates about gun control. Gun control is an issue I have always found to be a non-political one made political by the major parties and lobbyists. As I see it, it is a means of regulation that helps stabilize an industry in full swing but it cannot prevent an insane act of violence nor, I believe, is it intended to.
Take driving automobiles. We regulate it heavily and for good reason. Cars are two and three ton death machines whizzing down the highways at top speeds. We make sure that before someone can drive that someone must first study the rules of the road and take a test. After a provisional period, they are allowed to drive on their own. Even then, we regulate the roads by telling people how fast they can drive, which road they can turn on ("One Way," "Do Not Enter," etc) and what maneuvers they can make ("No U-Turns," "No Stopping," etc). None of this prevents deadly accidents from occurring every day but it does help make a potentially uncontrollable situation better.
But imagine if it were political and every time there was an accident big enough to make the news, one side said, "We need longer testing periods, more speed restrictions." Would that really stop someone intent on going 90 from doing so? Doubtless. But it's still a good idea to keep the original checks in place. Or how about the other side saying, "See! Your driving tests and speed limits don't work! Get rid of them now!" This would be even stupider. Who could possibly be so moronic as to believe that because an awful, deadly car accident happens that driving laws and regulations are useless?
Obviously, wanting to strengthen gun control is a natural reaction to a tragedy such as this and I believe most gun controls in place are effective means of regulation, just as they are in driving. Wanting to get rid of gun control in reaction to an event like this ("because this proves it doesn't work!") seems beyond unintelligible, it's ludicrous for the same reasons getting rid of driving laws in the wake of an accident are.
But beyond that, there is the loss of life of human beings taking part in the communal, shared experience of the movie theater. That's something I've been deeply connected to my whole life. A movie theater is a place where ordinary people become citizens of the world, sitting together in the dark, exploring life through images on a screen. They become family. They laugh together and gasp together, and in the case of a movie that stinks, they jeer together. Seeing a movie in a theater, a good one or a bad one, is a sacred experience for millions of people every year. Hell, every day. Seeing it violated like this is horrifying.
I cannot imagine the loss felt by the friends and families of those wonderful people who traveled to the theater to sit together in the dark and feel the excitement of a new experience. It breaks my heart and my sincere condolences go out to each and every one of them and my hopes for the speediest and healthiest possible recovery of those wounded but still alive.
11 comments:
I keep thinking about how everybody in that theater was excited to be there, and had been looking forward to this movie for months. They were at a midnight screening, after all. It's just all so disgusting.
Does anyone know how the shooter got in there? Did he buy a ticket and was in the audience the whole time, or did he come in through the Exit door? I still don't understand.
Bill, that's what I was saying to Ken on Twitter (you may have seen it). Seeing a movie like this is like STAR WARS or HARRY POTTER, it's an experience that for many is more important than the movie. And it's got tons of fans from little kids to adults, all expecting a wonderful time at the movies. How horrible.
Tom, I believe he came in through an exit door when the film was already going. I'm following the news on it online as it develops.
Greg, thanks for voicing what so many of us are thinking. It's so horrible. My daughter lives and teaches near this suburb in Colorado; she is waiting to hear if some of her students or friends of her spouse will show up. We talked and she voiced the same horror and outrage, then said, "Imagine what horrific pain that man must have been going thru, to have such a poisoned mind, to lose his humanity like that." You're so right that the theater is a sacred space for many of us; when the lights dim and the film starts, I always think "here comes magic"...how horrid for these excited fans. We all recognize how short life is, and you never know what day might be your last. While we're here, let's embrace the good, including the many messages of love, hope, forgiveness and promise that the movies so often give us.
James Holmes was able to get into the theater through an exit door. Which in turn suggests that theaters may need to review the mechanics of those doors so they can only be opened from inside the theater, and are secured during showtime.
As far as guns go, there is, to me, no reason why a civilian would own an assault rifle and 6000 rounds. As for the 2nd Amendment, we have an armed militia called the National Guard.
And someone should bitchslap Louie Gohmert, congressman from Texass. The idea that someone with a handgun could defend themselves in a dark movie theater against a guy wearing kevlar and a face mask defies logic.
I'd feel safer going hunting with Dick Cheney.
With regards from that southern Denver suburb, Littleton.
James Holmes bought a ticket for the screening. Then, after he got into the theater he went out the exit door, propping it open, went to his car to get his weapons, and came back in through the propped exit door.
It's horrifying and tragic beyond words. I share all your sentiments, and like you think of all the people (children included) who go out to smile and be entertained, and then fall prey to a psychopath. Yes the gun control issue comes into the forefront again, as well it should.
I just heard Obama's moving address, with Governor Hickenlooper at his side.
A very different view to the one we take over here, 'across the pond' in the UK. It may be a knee-jerk response to hear of incidents such as this one and think that easy availability of guns equates to widespread ownership of guns equates to high probability of gun deaths, but there is a lot of truth in it. The policy on guns in the USA boggles our minds.
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
John, it boggles my mind on this side that there is so much furious fighting over the issue instead of a search for a common solution, including re-evaluating all policies.
violence at theater - violence at shikh gurudwara.this is very unlike america.
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