The Dark Knight Movie Massacre & Why I Carry a Gun Everywhere I Go

Townhall.com ^ | July 22, 2012 | Doug Giles

[KyGeezer]

“I don’t care how small the gun has to be to fit, I’m carrying EVERYWHERE”

I do too. In hot weather it’s a little .380 Ruger LCP-CT which is easy to conceal under a t-shirt in a inside-the-pants holster.

It’s loaded with 6 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense ammo.

[baddog 219]

[The Great RJ]

I remember a few years ago there was a similar shooting incident at a Colorado church. While several people were killed, the lone assassin was taken down by an armed female guard saving many lives.

[RepRivFarm]

“One fast-thinking and trained person who was armed/licensed with a concealed weapon could have stopped that SOB right in his tracks before the body count skyrocketed.”

I support 2nd amendment rights and I hold CCPs from several states. I usually carry, but would have left my firearm in the car due to the "no gun" policy of the theatre and mall.

That said, what if I had been there and had ignored the property owners legal request? It is a darkened theater full of smoke and screaming people. The killer is wearing black body armor. All I can probably see are muzzle flashes.

Nevertheless, I rise calmly from my seat and quicky drop the bad guy 40 feet away with a double tap between the eyes.

Or not. I'm good, but I'm not that good.

Keep in mind, he has the advantage of being able to "spray and pray." I don't have that luxury. At 40 feet, he with a rifle and body armor, I my 9mm and batman t-shirt, he with a great chance of hitting something when he pulls the trigger, me squinting through the dark and smoke for a target......well, I am overmatched. Don't get me wrong: it is my duty in that situation to engage and I would have, but upon opening fire....doing what I was taught and aiming for center of mass in the dark....I would have hit his body armor. The odds are very high that I would have gone down.

And the headlines the next day: CONCEALED CARRY MAKES NO DIFFERANCE IN KILLING SPREE. The anti gunners win another round in the 2nd amendment battle.

How many of you CC guys train for THIS scenario? I am thinking about adding laser or light to my CC firearm....but none of the holsters I've been able to find fit a gun with a light or laser.

This is just a bad deal all around.

[Eye of Unk]

The security guards were profiling people to stop anyone from bringing in outside food and drinks.

Seems like a lot of theaters are getting really strict about enforcing that, they rely heavily upon concession sales.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

It’s an interesting scenario, however, as former Washington state CCW (and a current Czech Republic CCW - yes, you can get one here, provided you’re a permanent resident alien with a clean record from here and your home country, and you have to demonstrate firearms proficiency including marksmanship; oh, and you also have to undergo a psych exam) permit holder, I wouldn’t have returned fire except for under very clearly delineated circumstances, and here’s why.

The theater was inundated with tear gas; this would make it very difficult to properly acquire when you simply can’t see. The shooter threw in 2 tear gas grenades, which are available online easily enough, and then ones I looked at are 6 ounce size, military grade, capable of covering a 23,000 cubic foot area in 1 minute. You can find them at www.KeepShooting.com.

Aside from that issue, this is a semi-darkened environment, with only ambient light coming from the screen. Add to that this is now a tear-gas filled environment, and after the third round or so was fired, a tear-gas filled, semi-darkened environment now in a state of panic

So; you have a theater filled with low-light conditions, tear gas, and panicking people, and the perp is clad in black, with protective gear. He’s also shooting randomly.

The ONLY way in which I would use my CC pistol in this scenario is if the prep is 5 feet away or less, and provided that at that point, my vision had somewhat recovered to the point that I could actually clearly acquire the target.

If someone had returned fire, yes there is a chance he would have hit the shooter, though under the circumstances, probably not so good a chance. There’s just as equal a chance that someone returning fire would have hit an innocent bystander. Remember, when people panic or find themselves in extreme situations, they often act irrationally, and I’d imagine there were a lot of folks irrationally running pell-mell throughout that cinema.

If the hypothetical innocent person mentioned above survived the accidental injury, you can pretty much rest assured that a CCW responder would likely have his/her keester sued off for medical costs, pain and suffering, etc. A nice fat civil lawsuit, in other words.

Me? I would have tried to get myself into a defensive position, pistol at the ready, and only shot the perp (again, provided I could clearly acquire him) at close range, with a clear shot, and with no panicky people anywhere near my line of fire.

There’s a lot of folks out there in the world who think they’re John McClane, and they’re just gonna stand up and say, “Yippee ki yay, M*****F****r” and blow their target away with a clean single shot. Perhaps under the most optimal of conditions, that’s possible; however people must bear in mind that the conditions in which this massacre took place were far from optimal. Walking around with the notion that a CCW makes a person into a justice-dispensing Harry Callahan or Paul Kersey or Judge Dredd is not a responsible attitude to have when you carry a tool which literally has the power of life and death at your immediate disposal.

Life is not a “Die Hard” film.

[QT3.14]

I watched a presser where the chief said officers were on scene within a 1.5 minutes of the call.

News source provided this:

12:39 a.m.: Aurora Police Department receives calls about the shooting.

12:40 a.m.: Police arrive at the scene a minute and a half later. Twenty-five police officers are on the scene within the first few minutes; 200 are eventually on the scene.

[Dick Bachert]

When seconds count, the cops are just MINUTES away.

[ConradofMontferrat]

Agree with your post 100%

Now you will probably get flamed by all the Rambos who know better.

[QT3.14]

CCW holder in the audience?

It appears Holmes had thought about that. Why else would he go in there with all that protective gear?

[DH]

The most famous statement about carrying a gun for protection “when seconds count the police will be there in a matter of minutes” was proven when the police chief of Aurora said “we were there within 2 1/2 minutes after the call was received.”

Well! There you have it! The reason to carry.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Or John McClanes. :)

[QT3.14]

When seconds count, the cops are just MINUTES away.

[Puddleglum]

Oh good Lord, now is not the time for folks to be stepping up and saying “If I had been there I'd have saved the day!” Sure pal - you are every bit as calm and cool as Dirty Harry. The author needs to give the act a rest - it does nothing to protect 2nd amendment rights. It just stinks of the worst kind of bravado and self-promotion riding the coattails of a horrible massacre.

Leave the tackiness to the Left.

[QT3.14]

It boils down to which would you prefer:

Carried by 6

Judged by 12

[suthener]

I have the same (even the same ammo) but, frankly, I don’t like it. Not enough fire power and long, long trigger pull. I’m looking at the new Springfield Armory XDs (I have a full size XDm). It’s a delicate balance finding a gun small enough to carry every where but still big enough to feel confident with.

[GrannyAnn]

There is no way that a 6 year old drew this. 6 year olds can barely spell, much less know the difference between your and you're. The writing is too uniform and stylized.

Liberals have to lie about everything.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Personally, I think there’s a possibility he WAS expecting a CCW holder in the audience; he’d lived in Colorado for quite awhile, and I’m sure he would’ve been able to look up Colorado state firearms laws over the internet.

Only 5 minutes or so of research would’ve given him his answer.

So, you’ve got a perfectly legitimate point. I recall the 1997 North Hollywood shootout (because I remember watching that one live as it happened) and those two were armed for bear. Body armor, etc.,; they’d anticipated a quick response when they robbed the bank, so it’s also possible Holmes might’ve expected a heavily armed police response to his shoot-’em-up as well

Personally, I REALLY want to know what they find on this guy’s computer; aside from dating/fling sites, what else was he looking at? What was he checking out on YouTube, etc.? What did he download? E-mail contacts, etc.

That kind of information will speak volumes.

[Pollster1]

I am overmatched. Don't get me wrong: it is my duty in that situation to engage and I would have, but upon opening fire....doing what I was taught and aiming for center of mass in the dark....I would have hit his body armor. The odds are very high that I would have gone down.

I don't quite agree. Over-matched, but probably with different priorities - he wouldn't know where you were and wouldn't stop shooting for long to find out. Yes, a decent pair of shots at an appropriate distance would have hit his body armor twice (you weren't going to go for the head in the dark, not unless you saw his armor before it got chaotic, were you?), but I don't think he would have known who shot him. The dark, the chaos, the gas, and the gas mask all work against him for spotting the threat in that situation. He would have been bruised and distracted, but he would not have known who shot him. Wait a ten count, and he'll move on to shooting easy targets instead of searching for the threat. Now go for the head, it's easier to find than you are - his head is just above and to one side of the spouts of flame from his firearms. He's probably moving slowly to be systematic, and to avoid tripping over the living and the dead, and my money is on a head shot timed for when he's not moving to take him down before he knows you're shooting again.

Note: I believe one of the dead was in the next theater and was shot through the walls. It would be prudent to consider that risk and avoid spraying bullets (not that spray and pray is an option with a concealed carry magazine), but I'd consider the risk of a pistol round aimed upward missing, passing through a wall, and hitting someone to be acceptable given the immediate reality of the theater.

[stevie_d_64]

Law-Abiding citizens do NOT carry a firearm (or exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms) to become “heroes”...If you do, and that is your intent, stay the hell away from me...

The author of this article definitely nails the proper perspective on folks who take their self defense seriously enough to jump through the hoops to carry in their state(s)...As much as I have a problem with asking permission to exercise that right...

Unless there is physical security (metal detectors, pat downs, wanding) I carry regardless of any signage (or corporate policy) posted by a private business...Because my business is as private as theirs is...If the law says don’t go in there with a gun, I’ll follow that provision in the law...

The most that can happen in most instances is if they somehow find out you are carrying, they can ask you to leave...If you refuse then, then it becomes, from what I have read up on in various state laws, is a trespassing charge (at least in Texas)...

The thing is if you don’t talk about it, don’t make a big deal out of it, don’t play with it, or adjust it on your belt, and keep the thing concealed, you won’t have too many problems...

I’ve been saying for years after one of these shootings, and like the author illuded to...”One law-abiding citizen could very well have made a difference...”

I have also said that I look forward to a day where I walk out my front door, get into my truck and think, “Shoot, I forgot my pistol...”, do I go back and go get it??? Nahhhhh, I don’t need it...

It is unfortunate, but I do not see that happening any time soon...

Just my opinion...