Bloody hell, terrifying, shooting in US.

[GobblersKnob]

Shooting in cinema.

Words fail me, how fucking awful

DFail is already calling it the 'Dark Knight Massacre'

It it so terrible. :(

I just don't know anymore...

Got nothing to do with guns, it's all to do with culture. there is something fundamentally wrong with US society that creates this.

No one else really gets things like this, you get religion playing a part but so far that doesn't seem to be the case, you get groups of society in most countries attacking authority or other parts of society or you get lone nutters running amok on impulse.

You don't get this level of distance from everyone else, this level of hate for all mankind elsewhere that leads to these individuals so marginalised or so hating of society that they spend months planing killing sprees, if you banned guns it wouldn't make any difference they would just spend months brewing napalm in the kitchen or something, there is just something wrong in their culture that needs fixing.

Dd tells me his home is inaccessible as it's rumoured to be a booby trap.

Its happened only 15 miles from Columbine school .Horrific

If the gunman had some sort of agenda it should never see the light of day. Fuck him and whatever he was trying to achieve, may he die in complete obscurity.

Don't give gunmen a platform and don't make them into celebrity villains.

Just heard from my friend in Denver that she knew one of the victims :(

Juneau -- It's not guns that kill people, it's people who kill people, doncha see....

This sounds like role play to me. This seems to be an individual who had taken on the identity of a villain in the Batman film, someone who wanted to get inside it and play a part.

It seems to be something to do with reality and fantasy, and not wanting to separate the two.

Some computer games allow you to get inside exciting events and experience feelings that you would never have in a normal life - killing people, stealing cars, racing cars, meeting strangers, taking risks, etc. They allow you to take on a different persona, change your appearance - in fact they provide hugely imaginative, exciting, deeply pleasurable experiences for millions of people.

People walk around living their daily lives with all this bubblling in their heads. But most peole manage to separate out what's real life from their fantasy life.

I wouldn't ban these games (it would never happen anyway) so a way to start protecting people is, I would have thought, to ban guns.

If guns were not so easily accessible in the US this madman would probably have armed himself with a knife, which would have definitely reduced the number of people that he was able to kill and would have given people more time to escape.

Lack of gun control isn't the only factor in the high homocide rate in the US, but is definitely one of them. Surely they need to look at this.

I'm just amazed how many children seem to have been at this screening. Do they just let them in to 18 certificate (or whatever their equivalent is) films? And who takes a 4 year old to a midnight screening of a dark and violent movie???

Not that's got anything to do with anything, was just surprised.

This movie was not rated R, it was rated PG-13.

Our breakdowns are: G (General Admittance)

PG (Parental Guidance suggested) Anyone can go, but the rating lets parents know that they may want to watch it first or with their child

PG-13 (Parental Guidance strongly suggested for anyone under 13) Again, anyone can go

R (Restricted, and no one will be allowed in under 18 UNLESS they are with a parent or guardian)

DH went to see the movie in Toronto, Canada tonight. Screening had two police officers present apparently they're worried about a copycat.

He apparently bought a semi automatic rifle, two Glocks and one shotgun in the space of 60 days. For the life off me I can't understand how that sort of shopping spree couldn't be tracked and flagged. You have to sign a register if you buy products containing pseudoephedrine in the US, and the purchases of individuals can be monitored.

And it is just ridiculous that anyone could buy ammunition on the internet, again apparently with no flagging, given the gang problems in cities, the huge amount of drug trafficking, the massive instability in Mexico, which is quickly becoming a failed state/ narco state thanks to the flow of guns and ammo and money south.

The right to bear arms for personal protection didn't help any of the victims did it? No one shot the killer. The US position on gun control is bonkers.

The Second Amendment doesn't exactly say that, anyway; it's more in regards to a militia being able to arm themselves.

The thing is, what little gun control we have rarely works. There are people with illegal guns all over the place (gangs, etc) If you want them, you can get them. And so many people in the US have guns for non-murderous purposes (my BIL, for instance, who has more guns than the shooter did) and are firm in their rights to do so, that no politician would ever win who endorsed strict gun control laws.

messyisthenewtidy why would he have used a knife instead if he couldn't get guns?.

Mans got a flat full of explosives, far more likely he would have spent a few months brewing napalm in his kitchen it's all ready been stated that he had home made grenades in his flat along with all the trip wires and vats of things.

Then there's the arms industry. Presumably they sponsor the government? The Republicans?

What sort of people work for the arms industry? 'Just another day at the factory. Tra la. Making guns. Let's see how many guns I can sell today, tra la'. How do they feel about their job? They'd all be unemployed if guns were banned ...

Although I suppose there's always someone in the world who wants to buy weapons.

Sorry if my last post was a bit flippant.

They are never going to ban guns in the USA. It's all part of the philosophy of an individual's freedom of choice, even if that involves choosing to shoot someone. I don't know the figures, but surely more people are killed by smoking or drinking or over-eating than by guns - even in the US - each year? The govt is not going to ban cigarettes.

And people are not allowed to have guns in Norway. That didn't stop Anders Breivik. Nor were the UK gun laws sufficient to prevent the massacre of Dunblane.

I am so glad the police aren't armed over here, btw. The minute they start carrying guns will be the signal for criminal gangs to arm themselves (if they aren't already), in order to 'defend themselves' from the police. That's how it escalates. Each person feels they have to arm themselves in self-defence, and no-one will want to be the first to give up their gun.

I am puzzled.. No one seems to be shocked by the fact that children as young as 3 months old were in the cinema at midnight, watching a 'violent ' film in the first place. Am I old fashioned or right in thinking that maybe, just maybe it is just not appropriate -wouldn't they be better off in bed? Isn't that part of what is wrong with society.
It is a terrible crime against innocent people - I taught at Virginia Tech and lost friends in the 2007 massacre, but I still cannot comprehend why chldren were in this cinema at all.

I totally agree. Why are 6 year olds watching violent films in cinemas at midnight? No wonder there is a problem -childhhod is precious and should be protected. I will never forget my unborn twins leaping in the womb at the noise of a loud film -that was enough for me -we have very little cinema visits even now-they are 11, and we are extremely careful about content - my son has asked NOT to see Harry Potter films as he finds them scary, but then maybe we are just weird.

I'm guessing that people on this thread aren't expressing shock at a 3 month old being at the cinema because on the scale of things, compared to massacring 12 people in cold blood and injuring dozens of others, a baby at the pictures is pretty low down the list of shocking things that happened that night.

I expect the worst thing the parents were expecting was that the baby wouldn't sleep all the way through the film and they might have to take him out. Not this.

I'm sure the people who work in factories making guns and the like are very happy in their work and sleep soundly in their beds.

For guns are nothing more then a tool for violence like the bow, sling and rock before it. guns are used in massacres, murders, attacks on other lands etc but all so by freedom fighters, liberators and nations defending their home.

Just a tool, nothing more and one of many.

Plus I'm sure arms companies all so take pride in the fact the vast majority of innovation and creation of new tech and medicines come from warfare. from LCDs to the advances in surgical instruments, nothing generates more money into R&D then warfare, you may not like it but it's the truth, says a lot about humanity but thats the way of things.

It's sad that so much expertise goes into finding better ways to kill each other - but at least, as you say, good things have come out of it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the U.K has had 3 shooting massacres in living memory (excepting those that happened during the Troubles).

The state of Colorado has has 6 such massacres in 5 years.

The statistics don't lie, better gun control = greatly reduced number of mass shootings.

In Australia, following the Tasmanian massacre, they tightened gun control greatly. There have been no further massacres since.