I usually stay away from expressing strong personal opinions on this forum. I respect the opinion of every member here, and I did not join to argue with people. In this case, though, my feelings on this subject are too strong to keep my mouth shut.
First, my deepest sympathy to all involved in this senseless tragedy. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a loved one to such a random and pointless crime. I cannot even imagine the pain of surviving this event. I sincerely hope that those affected by this are able, one day, to lead what resembles a normal life again.
Now, to the gun advocates: Seriouly? In a dark, teargassed theatre with people running everywhere screaming, and shots ringing out, you're going to stand up, identify the shooter, evaluate his armour situation, and then pick him off with a prefectly placed shot in the neck right in-between his vest and helmet? Or clip his thigh and put him on the ground? Oh yeah, and with a handgun? Please. I support the notion of protecting oneself in an emergency, but appempting this shot is plain reckless. It's a panic reaction which has a slim possibility of being effective and a large possibility of contributing further to the chaos and confusion.
I know this is a polarizing topic, and I'm going to take a ton of crap for this, but really. Think about this honestly and tell me if you could make that shot without a chance of killing an innocnet bystander and adding to the chaos and tragedy. If you can, you're already taking that shot as part of your job, as the best SWAT marksman in the world. The notion of a civillian attempting that shot is reckless.
Now, you stand up and attempt this shot, and a split second later, someone else does the same, only they see you, arm outstretched, blasting away before they see the psycho who started all this. Guess what happens? At least your grieving friends and family can call you a hero through their tears at your funeral.
Multiply this by 3, or 7, or 22 "heroes". How many kill each other before the shooting stops? What happens when the cops show up in the middle of this gunfight? How do they know who to shoot?
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and this is mine: a handgun is a weapon with one practical purpose, which is killing people. Law enforcement are the only people who have any reason whatsoever to posess one. Part of their job is learning all of the proper moves in these tactical situations. Not a weekend hobby, a career. It shoud be a serious crime to have one if you're not required to have one as a part of your duties. Makes it simple. Posess a handgun, go to jail for 25-life, before you even shoot someone with it. Makes it a lot easier for the cops to sort out who is the bad guy.
By increasing the tolerance of firearms in a society, you are inviting more crime with firearms. Making handguns illegal will not eliminate this type of crime. Look at what happened in Norway. However, by making handguns less tolerable in society, people will have a less casual attitude toward them. For example, when I was a teen, loads of people in my school smoked pot. It was considered "cool". People openly did it, and openly admitted it. People constantly asked if I wanted to partake, tried to convince me it was harmless, encouraged me to try it, etc... Cocaine, however, was regarded as a serious drug. Sure, people did it, but they kept to themselves. Cocaine was a rumour. Nobody was walking up at lunch and offering it up.
Young people see "gun culture" and they want to emmulate it. They see "gangsters" in music videos and movies and think it's cool. They want to be cool. Change the message. Guns aren't cool, they kill people. They ruin families. They take young people full of potential and turn them instantly in to meat. They make orphans. A gun is the tool that caused someone's wife to not come home last night. Someone's sister laid awake all night last night, grappling with the shok of knowing she'll never, ever, see her brother again. Change the message. Make handguns illegal, and portray them as the instruments of terror they are. The psychos will always be out there, but this will push them further in to the shadows.
If you have a notion to go on a killing spree, and everyone is walking around with a gun, you blend in. If you're the only one with a gun, people notice. If handguns were illegal, there would have been more opportunities along the path the gun took from manufacture to this psycho's hand to intercept it. If handguns were illegal, it would have been harder for this psycho to even get one. It might not have prevented this crime, BUT IT MIGHT HAVE PREVENTED THIS CRIME. It's better odds that a handgun ban would have prevented this crime than a cowboy in the theatre with his six-shooter locked and loaded.
Change the message. Guns are not cool. They are not even as effective a defense tool as many people think. The solution to people shooting people is not more people shooting people.
You want to be John Wayne out there and kill some bad guys? Go down to your local police station and hand in a resume.
I did not write this post to incite an argument. I did not write this post to incite debate. I wrote this post in hopes that someone, even one person, might see my point and join me in trying to help reduce gun violence in the method which I truly believe will work. I respect everyone's honest opinion, and did not write this post do discredit those who have a different opinion than I do. I expect there will be posts which disagree with my position, and I respect those opinions. I will not engage in an argument to defend this opinion. This post makes my opinion and the reasons behind it quite plain, and I respectfully decline to argue about it.
The real topic here is the victims. To them, my sympathy. Whatever the solution, I hope as a society we all make a concentrated and honest effort to reduce these types of crime in the future.
