Colorado theater shooting: Do we need metal detectors at the movies?
theGRIO REPORT - Friday’s movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado has reignited an ongoing U.S conversation on gun control and public safety...
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, Associate Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, also doubts that suburban theaters will begin to utilize metal detectors. “I do not believe suburban theaters will do so. I don’t know any theaters in urban areas with metal detectors. However, urban areas often take extra precautions, like metal detectors in schools…” The National Association of Theater Owners does not maintain statistics on the number of movie theaters in the United States with metal detectors. There is no evidence to suggest a sizable number of movie theaters have followed Sunrise Cinema’s lead.
Browne-Marshall, author of Race, Law, and American Society, also said that, based upon current information, Holmes should be regarded as a terrorist in spite of his seemingly all-American upbringing and potential mental issues. “The shootings in Colorado are clearly a terrorist act. Although he may have been delusional, the intent was to terrorize the people in the movie theater, his apartment, and the City of Aurora.”
Friday’s shooting did not seem to deter people from seeing The Dark Knight Rises. The film made an estimated $162 million over the weekend in box office sales. Mike Cykoski, a Brooklyn-based musician who attended high school and college in Colorado, said that he thinks people will view the shooting as a very unusual event. “I’ve never been to a theater with a metal detector, but I most likely would not go into a theater with one.” He disagreed that patrons would feel comforted even in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy by metal detectors. “I’m not sure that metal detectors would put anyone at ease in suburban areas, if anything it would drive attendance down.”
According to Michael Dorn, people who practice a technique called “mental simulations” are more likely to survive emergency situations. “Make it a habit to visualize scenarios quickly in your head. Make it a habit to notice emergency equipment. The research is clear those who do so have a higher rate of survivability.” Dorn, who has trained with the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence and counterterrorism service, says that Americans should take a cue from Israeli’s in the aftermath of violent events. “Their attitude is they go right back to the scene of the attack. If we say don’t wear costumes and stay away from movie theaters in some ways it adds to the success of our attackers”
Follow Chelsea-Lyn Rudder on Twitter @ChelseaLynR
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