Posted on 08/04/2012 6:49:23 PM PDT by marktwain
DENVER -- What was supposed to be a regular night at the movies ended up being anything but for James Mapes on Sunday.
The Northglenn man was arrested in the middle of a movie at the Cinebarre Theater in Thornton after someone called police to report that a man had gone into the theater with a gun.
Mapes told 7NEWS that he’s worn his sidearm into the same theater several times.
“Never had a problem,” he said.
That changed on Sunday.
“The movie stopped and the lights came on,” Mapes said. “Someone said, ‘I just got a call from my friend who said there’s someone in the theater with a gun.’”
Mapes said he stood up told fellow patrons that he had a concealed carry permit.
He said he started to walk out and noticed all the police.
Mapes said, “I put my hands out and said, ‘I’m coming out, don’t shoot. I have a concealed carry permit. My gun is holstered.’”
He said police took his gun, handcuffed him and placed him under arrest.
“I’m kind of indignant about it,” he said. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Mapes said he wears his sidearm for safety reasons.
“A theater is no different than a grocery store or a gas station,” he said. “If a criminal is going to attack, you need to be able to defend yourself.”
Mapes attorney, Robert Wareham, said there should never have been an arrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
Reason and logic just don't seem to be your strong point, so I'll explain it to you slow.............just because someone else commits a crime doesn't mean I, or anyone else, should forgo their rights. There is no context where this is so, not even 9/11.
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If it’s me, in that context, I either 1) stay away from the movies, or 2) don’t pack openly. Context.
Context is indeed everything. With a recent example of what one armed nut in a theater can do when no one else is armed, I'm aware of feeling safer with several armed ordinary people around. Without that example, I probably wouldn't give it a second thought.
It really is a paranoia of objects. I saw another example recently at a birthday party for a young teenage girl who had received a mini-Leatherman knock-off as one of her presents (which turned out to be useful in opening some of her other presents). One of the other girls was freaked out by the two-inch blade on the tool...and a couple of the other girls began to join her assessment. Understand that this second girl is a cook, and regularly handles foot-long blades in dicing vegetables and meat. The issue was more-or-less-resolved by two other girls asking what the big deal was then pulling out their folding knives, one of which was about 4-inches.
The paranoia is silly, and goes directly opposite what should be making them feel safer.
A very Good point FunkyZero, I couldn’t agree more, we are after all suppose to be a republic, where individual leaders bare responsibly for their individual transgressions.
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