Last Saturday night, some creepy dude walked into the movie plex in my town...

[WCGreen]

and sat in the back with a fully loaded, well, I'll let the Plain Dealer report...



WESTLAKE -- An attorney for the man police said carried a gun, knives and multiple rounds of ammunition into a movie theater Saturday claims his client was afraid for his own safety in light of recent shootings and incidents around the country.

Medina attorney Matthew Bruce represents Scott A. Smith, the man accused of concealing weapons in a satchel before buying a ticket to the 10 p.m. Saturday screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" at Crocker Park in Westlake.

A theater manager and police officer questioned Smith about the satchel and he was eventually arrested when a search uncovered a loaded 9mm Glock handgun, four knives and two magazines with 16-17 rounds of ammunition each.


http://www.cleveland.com/westlake/index.ssf/2012/08/attorney_says_scott_a_smith_br.html#incart_hbx



I hope it doesn't turn out to be a long, hot summer....

[liberal N proud]

1. 2 miles from my house

My daughter was going to that movie that night.

What a scare, huh?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My god, the guy is certifiable!

I'm grateful to the theater manager and the police officer for their timely action.



Hey, the summer's almost over....

[lonestarnot]

7. 118 today.

[MADem]

3. If I had a houseful of youngsters who wanted to see that film, I would take 'em to the drive in. nt

[murielm99]

15. We have a drive-in only a few miles from my house.

They show all the first run movies there in the summer. We went there for some of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

I would take them to the drive-in, too.

[MADem]

39. That's the ticket if you have one nearby. It's also handy for the folks who just don't want

to sit up through a double feature! Put that seat back and have a nap!

[charlie]

4. Skeered for "his own safety", right

He must think Ohio is Somalia.

A search on Monday night of Smith's home in North Ridgeville, a suburb about 20 miles west of Cleveland, led police to a small room holding a collection of guns and ammunition.

The weapons cache included seven pistols and 12 shotguns and other rifles, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition, according to Arcuri.

http://news.yahoo.com/weapons-cache-found-home-ohio-man-nabbed-batman-201727303.html

[WCGreen]

11. North Ridgeville is right next to Westlake....

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Another paranoid jerk.

Where do these people come from?

[DJ13]

6. You know, if someone is that scared they make a device

called a "DVD" player so you dont have to actually go to the theater anymore.

[Initech]

8. After all the crazy shit happening in movie theaters lately that sounds like a good option.

[Shankapotomus]

9. This strikes me as the perfect illustration

why gun advocates can never win this debate. Here we have a situation where they know the guy is carrying, he explains the weapon is for his safety (and presumedly the safety of the other theater goers) and still that doesn't make people comfortable. In fact, it did the opposite. It made people so uncomfortable the police were called and the man was ultimately arrested. To me, this completely obliterates the the gun advocates' suggestion that if more people were allowed to carry guns, these mass killings wouldn't happen. It doesn't work because nobody is going to feel comfortable with someone in possession of a gun while their in the movie theater or in college class because people carrying guns are what create these mass killings in the first place. No one is going to trust a stranger among them with a gun and who can blame them?

Given two situations, one where you know no one in a theater will be carrying a gun, and another where you know a few strangers will be carrying, in which theater are you going to be looking over your shoulder and unable to concentrate on the movie? The one where you know no has a gun or the one where you know some dude behind you is carrying a weapon?

[hack89]

10. You sit in theaters with armed people all the time - you have been doing it for years

some are carrying legally and some not. The point of concealed carry is you will never know if someone is carrying - people won't get uncomfortable about something they are oblivious to.

"One where you know no one in a theater will be carrying a gun" is an unrealistic scenario unless you want to live in a world where metal detectors and searches are the norm - laws and signs won't stop people from taking a gun into a theater (here I am talking about criminals). The Aurora theater had a no guns policy - what good did it do?

[Shankapotomus]

18. What's your proposal for reducing

gun violence in this country?

[hack89]

19. This is my proposal for reducing gun violence in America.

1. Decriminalize drugs and treat it as a public health problem. It will remove the financial incentive that drives so much crime.

2. Empty the prisons of non-violent drug offenders. It will save billions that can be spent on education, health care and social services.

3. Focus the justice system like a laser on violent crime. Use a gun in committing a crime and go to prison for a very long time.

4. Single payer health care with mental health coverage.

My plan would actually address roots causes.

[Shankapotomus]

22. I'm all for trying this

But how more likely do you think it is to implement over just more strict gun control laws?

In the end, a lot of the mass gun violence that has grabbed headlines in the past twenty years was not motivated by money or drugs. The Klebold and Harris families I believe upper middle class and I'm sure could have afforded mental health care for them both, if they were not already seeing someone. The Aurora killer we know was seeing someone. What good did it do?

[hack89]

29. Why not fix root causes? Why not make all of society healthier?

taking guns from violent or deranged people still means there are a lot of violent and deranged people out there.

If mentally ill mass killers are your concern, why not concentrate on reforming mental health laws? Why not make it easier to get mentally ill people involuntarily treated? Why not concentrate on a much smaller group of people instead of disarming half of America?

Stricter gun laws will be a long protracted fight that may have serious political consequences - if we have to have such a fight in America why not set our goals a lot higher and help millions more.

Just food for thought.

[Shankapotomus]

30. Of note in regard to this is Japan

From all accounts their mental health services are poorer than ours and yet their gun violence is minimal or a tenth of ours. So if access to proper mental health services is not what keeps Japan's gun violence at a world record low, what could be the factor? (In fact, it has been said the stress and pressures of Japanese society and work, which largely go untreated by the way, far outweigh the stresses experienced by Americans.) Paradoxically, this may give Japan its high suicide rate but I think that would preferable than our high homicide rate.

The only factor I see as contributing to Japan's low gun violence, since it can't be adequate mental health access, is minimal access to guns, which kind of invalidates your theory.

I would suppose since guns are so hard to get in Japan, people angry at society opt for suicide rather than attempt a mass slaying that would be unsuccessful with inferior weaponry.

[hack89]

31. So Japanese culture is irrelevent?

given the same access to guns as Americans they would be just as violent?

Guns are not evil talismans that turn normal people into killers.

[Shankapotomus]

34. Are you claiming the Japanese

wouldn't be violent if given access to more guns? I ask because they seemed to be capable of violence just as much as any other country just before we redrew their constitution and took gun access away from them.

Your move.

[hack89]

35. What is their non-gun murder rate compared to our non-gun murder rate?

there are other ways to kill each other - if guns were magically removed from America, would our murder rate be the same as theirs?


Violence in society manifests itself in many different ways - assaults, rape, domestic abuse, child abuse, for example. If you can show that Japan has equal levels of violence other than gun violence then perhaps you might have something. I am sure the stats are available - perhaps you show go look at them.

[Shankapotomus]

36. Their suicide rate is high

And, as any good psychologist will tell you, violence against others is just self hatred directed outward. Given Japan's strict gun laws, that violence reverts back toward oneself. So the violence is certainly there in Japan, just directed elsewhere. (Notice Japan's annual suicide rate is comparable to our annual gun violence stats.)

Also, I think the gun is a very powerful element to introduce to any culture. I think, regardless of the pre-existing culture, guns can change a culture.

[hack89]

37. So if the Japanese direct their violence inwards

with access to guns we would not see an increase in murders but merely more successful suicides? OK

[Fumesucker]

23. Decriminalizing drugs will do nothing to remove financial incentives..

Only outright legalization and regulation will do that..

Decriminalization is distinctly not the same thing as legalization and legalization is not going to happen.

I can't think of a more bipartisan policy in Washington than the drug war..

[hack89]

28. I agree - I will change it to "legalization and regulation" in the future. nt

[datasuspect]

25. you would put the drug war out of business like that

where will podunk PDs get funds for military equipment, armor plated Humvees, and drones?

there's too much money in the law enforcement/corrections biz for there EVER to be any real change.

[kctim]

20. The one with the fewest people

and the best seats available.

Living in fear is ridiculous.

[Shankapotomus]

21. Well, that's my whole point

So now we have to be conscious of our seating arrangements when we go to the movies so we can get the jump on the other dude who is allowed to carry a concealed weapon too, but may or may not be a crazy person.

The whole "peoples rights to guns should not be infringed upon" line just doesn't add up when the equally valid idea of a person's right to Life kind of supersedes that and when you consider we are supposed to be protected "against all enemies, foreign and domestic...". Well, I would say with 10's of thousands of Americans dying every year from gun violence, we have a domestic enemy on our hands from which we are in dire need of protection.

[kctim]

27. Uh, no

The point is that unless a person chooses to live in fear, they do what they have always done and continue to look for the best seating. You drive, walk, stand, sit and eat next to people with concealed weapons EVERY day, but yet you are still here.

The founders, the Supreme Court and the majority of Americans believe the 2nd Amendment "adds up." I will stick with those facts rather than fearful opinons.
Like it or not, we have a 2nd Amendment and your "right to life" is not affected one little bit by it. Yes there are a few troubled people out there and yes we need to do a better job at identifying them and preventing them from doing something crazy. But, at this point it is too late to change the fact that Americans can choose to be armed. You will have to re-interpret and change the 2nd Amendment or just totally get rid of it, and that is not probable or even practical.

The fact is, your personal fears do not trump the rights of others to exercise that right. All who exercise that right are not your "enemy," or you would not be posting on here.
Continue living in fear of what MAY happen, or live the life that IS happening.
Your choice.

[Shankapotomus]

32. We can do better than

devolving into negative presumptions of each others' psychologies. I'm not afraid. I am just trying to figure out, like you, what actions will bring down gun violence and what won't. Whatever is tried that won't work will only ratchet up the fear, though.

[MrMickeysMom]

12. Well, Geez... why didn't he bring enough for EVERYONE?

I mean, isn't that the way it's supposed to be when we're all given our due liberty to arm ourselves?

Come on! Yee-haw, everybody!

[Sick of the GOP]

13. Was he aware it was a movie and not real life?

Did he think Bane was going to come after him in his seat?

[WCGreen]

14. Yea, because Westlake is known as a high violent crime area....

The police blotter here is full of shop lifting, drunk driving and disturbing the peace...

It's a pretty safe place to be.

[jillan]

16. Yeah - right. If he was that "afraid" then he just should've stayed home and wait for the dvd to

come out.

People are insane.

[WCGreen]

17. Yea, Jeff Jazzy IPad rolling through the promanade in his daddy's Lexus....

[grantcart]

24. what happens when this guy sits across the aisle from another guy

Just like him.

[Bucky]

26. Since we apparently can't pass gun laws, can we start psych-screening movie goers instead?

This is still a needle in a big popcorn smacking haystack, but it really is at least culturally embarrassing.

[Odious justice]

33. I think we should encourage people who have gun, love guns, and need more guns to feel safe to

associate with like minded people. Why not have the "guns allowed" section of a movie theater where you need at least one gun to enter. That way, everyone can feel safe, secure, and shoot the shit out of each other. According to gun nuttery logic, the location of all of the gun toting freedom lovers in one theater will divert the threats elsewhere. Everybody wins! Worse case scenario we lose a room full of libertarians.

[PavePusher]

38. Four knives does seem rather excessive.

Most folks would only need one, two maximum, if you've been trained in double-knife fighting.