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Odessa American, Texas, David Johnson columnJul 22, 2012 (Odessa American - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The other day, there was a horrible tragedy during the midnight premiere of the film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo. You know what happened. Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured as a gunman fired gas canisters and a rain of bullets into the crowded theater. The suspect, James Eagan Holmes, is a 24-year-old who was not a career criminal or a particularly peculiar individual in the way people said, "Well, we never expected this, but we're not that surprised by it." And as much of a tragedy as it is, as much of a really frightening scenario as it is, people want to do something now to make sure it never happens again. That's everything from installing metal detectors in entrances to having armed guards to more restrictive gun laws. On the other end of the spectrum, you have people saying if we had less restrictive gun laws, if we had more people carrying weapons on them, this could have been prevented or at least minimized. All of those things are wrong. Nothing could have prevented this. Holmes reportedly used (and legally purchased during weeks) a semi-automatic AR-15, a 12-gauge shotgun and two handguns. He also outfitted himself in bulletproof gear, including a helmet and throat guard. It feels very nice to imagine that Rambo or even an off-duty police officer could have stopped that from happening. But a man with a gun planning to go out to the movies is not prepared to stop a man planning to kill a lot of people and not especially care if he gets caught. Nor would a more militant and well-armed crowd have necessarily improved things. Imagine for a moment you're sitting in the dark and some fellow dressed up like a costume character comes in and opens fire on everyone. Now imagine someone else in the crowd, or several someones, have stood up among you and started shooting, too, possibly also in costume. Maybe you can tell he's shooting back at the attacker; maybe not. But the person to the side of you cannot and thinks the theater is full of crazies attacking, so she shoots at the guy who stood up. Then maybe someone shoots her. In the end, maybe the original gunman gets taken down sooner; maybe not. It's still bloody and awful. Charles Whitman killed more people from the University of Texas clock tower, and he had armed Texans shooting back at him. So that means we should ban semi-automatic rifles, and maybe shotguns and handguns, as well, right That would definitely make sure that people were protected. Well, unless a crazy person wanted to, I don't know, barricade everyone in a crowded theater and start a fire. Might be worth banning gasoline and matches, or at least forcing you to register when you do. Likewise, I hope no one is seriously considering increasing security measures at theaters now, as though airports weren't bad enough. Movie theaters seemed safe for decades until suddenly we realized they weren't, and we didn't want to go the next step to realize that nothing is safe and the world is scary and out of our control. Are there good reasons for gun control Sure. I don't want people being able to easily buy .50 caliber machine guns on demand for straight cash. Are there reasons to support gun rights Sure, not the least of all is the capacity for self-defense of democracy. But we don't make these decisions based on one event. And we don't change laws or policies to make ourselves feel better. That's much more dangerous than a murderer, and more insane to do. ___ (c)2012 the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) Visit the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) at www.oaoa.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |