Waking up to horrible news - 14 reported dead more than 40 injured at movie theater shooting (home, neighborhood)

[dnvrsoul]

Originally Posted by hakkyou

This is so disheartening I was planning to move to Denver as well, but I'm very weary of Colorado now.

Prayers to everyone xxx

This could have happened anywhere....Colorado is a beautiful state and makes me even more homesick

[dnvrsoul]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

I listen to 104.3 where she supposedly worked and they are all shook up. She had too much life left to go out like this as well as all the other victims. I am really having a hard time with this.

The weirdest part is she escaped the shooting in Toronto...what are the odds...?? What a terrible tragedy.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

I think she was right about that. But gifts don't simply come flying out of the sky like meteors and peanut shells. Every gift has a giver. My hope is that she, and all of us, know and appreciate the God who is the giver of those blessings.

I was a Jefferson County high school student when Columbine happened, and as awful as that whole ordeal was, the reality is that God worked in tremendous ways in this community in the aftermath of all of that. It is a rare thing to see a community so focused on the right things like that. Of course it's too bad that it happens only so rarely, and only when really bad things happen, but I suppose you take what you can get, right? If what happened 13 years ago is indicative of the things to come for our area, then I'm confident that the following days, weeks, and even years will be full of remarkable stories of God's grace, healing, and power.

I remember the Columbine shooting. I was in the 7th grade. It was on the news and the class watched it. That happened to be the day two bullies in my class kicked the crutches from underneath me and sent me falling to the ground. I never knew the impact of the shooting until I got home. I was hearing that bullying played a part in the shooting. My father basically said if anyone was bullying me(and there were quite a few kids bullying me in middle school, I was even thrown in a garbage can), that I needed to tell him so we could do something about it. I spilled my guts about the crutch incident. Being a kid that was thought of as "weird", "dorky", and basically not liked by alot of kids, I was bullied alot. One kid claimed I was a prime candidate for being a "mass shooter" like the ones at Columbine. However, I never did go to that length. It never occurred to me to go to that length. I wouldn't be able to look my father in the face if I had done what those boys did. I knew never to touch my father's guns. In my situation, it was not a matter of "gun access". It wasn't about violence video games or violent anything else. It was about the fact that I knew how much trouble I would get into if I did something like that. To be honest, I was scared of guns in the 7th grade.

This shooting brings back some memories for me.

[ChrisFromChicago]

Originally Posted by crestliner

His dead body is what is suppose to be in custody. People caught doing this kind of stuff need to be killed the minute they are caught.

Someone really likes the new Judge Dredd movie, apparently (or the comic books maybe?)

Maybe this is just venting. . .but its not well thought through. The reason that police, prosecutors, defense, and juries are all put in place is an attempt to prevent abuse by the state. A real common and probable outcome from any law enforcement service. By taking police out of judgement and jury you are adding checks and balances in the hope that you will be less likely to imprison or harm the innocent.

Without these checks and balances, you are significantly increasing the amount of innocent persons who will be punished or killed. I..e "yep, Guy Y got shot by Guy X over here. .so I blew X away, for the offense". Then it turns out that X was an innocent bystander and the cop didn't want a new murder on the murder book, because they get funding based on murder rates. . .whatever

[sailordave]

A lot of people are upset with Brian Ross of ABC News. He reported the wrong person as the shooter this morning because this person's name was a member of the Tea Party. He rushed to release the info this morning. Problem is this person with the same name was 52 years old and had nothing to do with the shooting. He's received death threats via the phone and internet and so he's had to have his phone disconnected. Brian Ross and ABC News issued an apology and correction. Too bad they didn't apologize to their viewers for allowing their political bias to get in the way of their journalistic integrity.

[bentstrider]

My thoughts go out to the victims and others affected by this in the wonderful area of the Denver-Aurora metro.
It's been several months since I last had the pleasure of hanging around there and after hearing this, my heart actually sank deeper thinking another awful event like this had to go down, especially there.

[sailordave]

Everyone who survived the shooting will need counseling. I went to my first Navy ship right after a steam leak that killed 10 sailors (USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 October 1990). Though I arrived nearly a month after the accident, for many nights I heard grown men wake up screaming in terror from the nightmares they suffered after the accident. They were sent into the fire room (aka boiler room) to recover the bodies of their friends/co-workers who were killed by 600 psi 800 degree steam. Some survivors have already begun reporting horrible nightmares. They'll eventually come less frequently but never truly go away.

[Gfitz1010]

It's hard to believe the theater I go to is making worldwide news in a negative light. God bless those poor people.

[ChrisFromChicago]

Originally Posted by sbelvedere

Like it or not, there's a strong correlation between states with gun control laws and less gun violence, including both criminal and non-criminal. To silence any talk of this, such that we never do anything about gun violence, only increases the likelihood of future gun violence. The best thing you can do for the victims is to make sure their deaths weren't in vain, and that as a society maybe we can learn something to prevent such senseless violence in the future.

Okay - I think the removal of our gun protections, and banning most guns, would pretty much be good for crime.

Yet thats not the issue here. . .it really isn't. This is not a drug violence or turf or whatever. This is some guy who wanted to kill lots of people, and acted on that urge. This event is tragic - sure. Yet it happens. People's brains breakdown, and crap can happen. I think the solution is more akin to better healthcare, support, genetic identification of issues, etc.. .some of it future.

Until we get to that point, I think you will always have a possibility of a random crackpot event. One year ago this sunday that guy in Norway went nuts. . .and did a lot of horrific damage. Its like a lighting strike, or a shark attack. . .precautions sure, but the randomness of the event will get someone someday. . .and there isn't a lot you can do about it. The good news is, it is unlikely to happen. . .


I find it funny that people worry about crap like the above . . .when they are far more likely to crack open their skull by not wearing a helmet, or walking home drunk. People just can't prioritize risk.


So no, don't change legislation based on this. Have a real reason. If there wasn't a gun, a crackpot could of always done something creative. . .I mean a few bottles of gasoline on fire at the various exits would of been just/more effective than a gun.

[nofxsnap]

People who are looking at Colorado as the mass murder state are wrong. This can happen anywhere. You just need one psycho, a gun, and some bullets. Like ChrisInChicago said, the likely hood of this happening is extremely rare. We can't stop living life just b/c 1 in 300,000,000 decide to go nutz.

My thoughts go out to the families who are affected by this senseless tragedy.