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TSA At The Movies: Theater Chain Looks To Bring Security Theater To The Movie Theater
Tech Dirt ^ | 08/21/15 | Tim Crushing

Posted on 08/23/2015 12:59:30 AM PDT by Enlightened1

from the more-hassle,-same-safety dept

Thanks to a string of theater-related tragedies, going to the theater is about to become as enjoyable as going to the airport.

Following two recent deadly incidents at movie theatres in the US, the Regal Entertainment Group – the nation’s largest movie theater chain – this week added a bag and purse check policy as a security measure in some of the 569 theaters it operates.

“Security issues have become a daily part of our lives in America. Regal Entertainment Group wants our customers and staff to feel comfortable and safe when visiting or working in our theatres,” the chain said in a statement.

This may sound like a harmless bit of "doing something" in response to a few tragic incidents, but there's nothing really harmless about it.

First off, it subjects everyone to the same level of scrutiny -- provided they're carrying a bag of some sort. If you have a purse or backpack or (god forbid) a fanny pack, you're a potential threat. Everyone else? Free to go. Weapons tucked into waistbands or shoved into pockets will go undetected.

And, like the TSA its emulating, the security measures will be easily thwarted and ultimately useless. For every weapon the TSA brags about seizing, many more end up on planes. A recent audit of the TSA's security efforts found it missed 95% of smuggled weapons and explosives. Anyone thinking Regal's security force is going to be better trained and more thorough than the TSA is kidding themselves.

Like the TSA's efforts, this will give moviegoers the illusion of safety, rather than actual safety. An illusion might be comforting enough for most moviegoers and it's all Regal can actually offer. This move is more about PR than reality.

(Excerpt) Read more at techdirt.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: chain; security; theater; tsa
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To: Enlightened1

I went to the movies the other night. Just about all of us were in the last couple rows. Just about half, I’m sure, of us were armed.

If the TSA takes over security, then I for one will never go to that theater again.

Take the damn sign down that says no guns allowed.


21 posted on 08/23/2015 4:00:54 AM PDT by nikos1121 ("There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." Thoreau)
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To: Enlightened1

Weren’t statistics recently released that said TSA missed 98% of contraband in test cases? I’m not feeling’ the safety.


22 posted on 08/23/2015 4:06:22 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam
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To: Enlightened1

Oh boy is the TSA going to love Disney Movies. All the little
children they will get to feel up. The perverts will be
fighting for that detail.


23 posted on 08/23/2015 4:30:19 AM PDT by Slambat
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To: Truth29

“Are there enough armed citizens and second amendment advocates who will boycott Regal Cinemas and take their business to the competition?”

If Regal Cinemas gets the TSA then it will be but a short time
before an E.O. or some regulation from Homeland Security will
make it a mandate.


24 posted on 08/23/2015 4:34:00 AM PDT by Slambat
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To: Enlightened1
Slowly but surely, the West is heading the way of Israel. The Israelis have had to combat terror for so long that it's second nature there.
Israel profiles Arabs...the West criticizes and is slowly moving in the same direction.
Israel built a wall to keep out murderers...the West criticized it and now they're all building walls.
Israel checks purses, baggage at the entrance to movie theaters, malls, trains, restaurants...the West called it excessive, now Europe and America are waking up.
The only problem is this:

In Israel, they know who the enemy is, what he/she looks like, how he/she sounds, what they want and rely on HUMINT to find the bad guys.
The Americans are not sure who the enemy is. Is it a disgruntled teenager, a military psychiatrist, angry punk, humiliated student, strung out individual on antidepressants or just plane loon?

25 posted on 08/23/2015 4:39:06 AM PDT by Netz
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To: Netz

plain loon...


26 posted on 08/23/2015 4:39:24 AM PDT by Netz
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To: Netz

plain loon...


27 posted on 08/23/2015 4:39:26 AM PDT by Netz
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To: Enlightened1

I think they are really using this as an excuse to search bags for food and beverages so they can make more at the concession stands.

Metal detectors would be much less intrusive and far more effective in finding weapons.


28 posted on 08/23/2015 4:41:52 AM PDT by Above My Pay Grade (Donald Trump: New York City Liberal)
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To: nikos1121

The day I have to take a gun to a cinema.....Is the day I will stop patronizing them. Come to think of it, I’ve only been in a cinema 4 times in the last 20 years!


29 posted on 08/23/2015 5:30:40 AM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Who still pays $50 to drive to a movie theatre when most homes have a 40 inch or bigger television in the living room?

To attract audiences, AMZ has completely redesigned its movie theaters to create an entirely different movie-going experience.

Remodeled Framingham movie theater makes its debut

30 posted on 08/23/2015 5:55:03 AM PDT by Maceman
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To: Enlightened1

Allow CCW? I don`t go where I`m banned.


31 posted on 08/23/2015 6:29:00 AM PDT by nomad
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To: 48th SPS Crusader

Police a “no outside food” policy to help drive revenue and lower liability insurance by demonstrating they’re checking for weapons.... Probably it.


32 posted on 08/23/2015 6:34:30 AM PDT by Made In The USA (Yes Ma'am, I said I'd like three sides of bacon with my eggs. and bacon.)
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To: Enlightened1

If this TSA crap continues we will become the USSR, where you must have a pass to travel outside of a few blocks of your home.


33 posted on 08/23/2015 6:36:06 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: Enlightened1
Oh YAY! Another reason to stay home and watch films on Netflix!


34 posted on 08/23/2015 6:39:04 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Ok. We won't call them 'Anchor Babies'. From now on, we shall call them 'Fetal Grappling Hooks'.)
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To: SaveFerris

“I thought this was already done in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2”?”

I had the misfortune of watching that garbage last night...11 y.o. wanted it. At least Redbox is only $1.30


35 posted on 08/23/2015 7:21:28 AM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt)
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To: Enlightened1

Lol...let the market sort it out.

The death of Hollywood, IMHO. Bring it.


36 posted on 08/23/2015 7:23:03 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: 1rudeboy

The security situation is satisfactory when I am watching a movie on Netflix while I’m at home. The only downside occurs when one of the kitties decides to watch with me - right in front of the monitor ! On the rare occasion that I attempt to watch a Hollywood offering, that lasts about 10 minutes. My tolerance for car crashes and CGI has really waned and I have come to enjoy dialogue, story and characters instead.


37 posted on 08/23/2015 7:24:40 AM PDT by jlindseyx42 (Namaste)
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To: Enlightened1

Concealed carry. Problem solved.


38 posted on 08/23/2015 7:48:43 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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To: Red in Blue PA

LOL!

Actually I only have 42” and below.

My TV’s are older, and I am frugal.

My brother, on the other hand, is a multiple 60” +’er.

He has to show off.


39 posted on 08/23/2015 9:51:18 AM PDT by chris37 (Heartless)
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To: Enlightened1
What the heck does your first comment have to do with the second one? You're reasoning is as absurd as your outrage and rationale. For one thing, people will not stop going to the theater because their bags are checked. That's ridiculous and preposterous. It will be business as usual. I know from personal experience.

I regularly (at least once a week or so) take in a movie at the Regal theaters in Gainesville, FL. There are two of them. I started seeing the "ticket takers" ask to look in women's purses or student''s backpacks, last week. These are not "security guards" by any means. They are young folks with just enough skills to take the tickets as the patrons walk in the theater. Not rocket scientists. And their inspection of the handbags or packs is cursory. They don't even search them. They just have the person open their bags themselves and they look in without any kind of search, let alone a thorough search. They don't even touch the bags.

And as for someone who doesn't carry a bag of any kind into the theater, like myself, there is no check or questions at all. I usually wear baggy cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt when I go to town. Plenty big enough to conceal a weapon of almost any kind and several extra clips. If I wore loose long pants, I probably could sneak a rifle inside if I wanted to.

I went to a movie at one of the Regal theaters yesterday when I sent to town to get some new tires on my truck. It was raining hard when I got out of the theater, so I sat down at a table and chairs next to the ticket takers podium in the lobby to wait out the storm. Not only did they not check everyones' bags (especially when the line got longer) but they barely looked in the bags themselves.

Some higher-up mucking muck in a suit in some office in the this theater chain's headquarters came up with this brilliant (translated--STUPID) idea to make people feel safe and prevent any gun violence in the movie theater. This whole thing is a total joke for the sake of Regal bowing to political correctness and the gun-control crowd. Their have been a few highly publicized shooting in theaters across the country but by no means is this a pressing national problem. If the theaters would just change their signs from "Gun Free Zone" to "Concealed Handguns Are Allowed" then any perceived danger by management and the patrons would evaporate immediately. Otherwise, they are just going throughout he motions of "security checks" when they are nothing of the kind.

40 posted on 08/23/2015 1:12:09 PM PDT by HotHunt
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