My state has been a trainwreck lately. :(
This, however, is uncalled for.
Source
This, however, is uncalled for.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said Friday that the shootings that took place in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater hours earlier were a result of "ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs" and questioned why nobody else in the theater had a gun to take down the shooter.
During a radio interview on The Heritage Foundation's "Istook Live!" show, Gohmert was asked why he believes such senseless acts of violence take place. Gohmert responded by talking about the weakening of Christian values in the country.
"Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important," he said. "Whether it's John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people ... Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters. We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country."
"You know what really gets me, as a Christian, is to see the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and then some senseless crazy act of a derelict takes place."
Source
Or do only Christians go to Batman movies?
Edited at 2012-07-20 07:46 pm (UTC)
I know, terrible comment, but that's what popped into mind.
I think I have a few answers for him:
1. Maybe people were trying to enjoy the movie, not guard against rogue gun men. Considering that movie theater shootings are highly improbable, it's not that strange that no one was worried about being shot while watching a movie. (And thus did not take what he seems to see as reasonable precautions.)
2. While I've never been shot at, I suspect that it is a highly unsettling experience. I also suspect that if I was being shot at, my first instinct would be to get the hell out of there, not charge the person who was trying to shoot me in an attempt to take that person out/reach for the gun that I had carefully brought to prepare for this contingency. (Esp. as either action seems more likely to involve me getting shot.)
3. Even if someone else *had* a guy, the shooter was wearing a bullet proof vest (so shooting him might not have done much) *and* threw tear gas at the audience, which probably made him hard to see. Heck, this was in a dark movie theater at night. I highly doubt that visibility was all that great.
Sometimes I wonder how anyone so braindead gets elected. Probably a question it's better not to ask.
5. In a dark, crowded, chaotic theatre, even if I manage to identify the shooter, I would not trust my aim to be good enough to shoot one person while making absolutely sure not to hit other people around or behind him.
6. I would be worried that a bullet would penetrate the walls and hit someone in the hallway or another theatre.
7. I'd probably consider the tactic of "pelt him with popcorn buckets and large cups of soda while running toward him in a weaving fashion" to have a better likelihood of success.
Wow, I didn't know we had so many super-powered SWAT-trained people.
Fuck you, Gohmert and the rest of you assholes saying the same.
Because it's a theater not a gun range. Even if any one had a gun, do you think in the suddenness of the attack they'd have the wherewithal to use it? And not shot a bystander in a darkened crowded movie theater? Why the hell do gun nuts think that having a gun at a crime scene would magically fix everything rather than escalate the violence?
Also, where the hell does he get the idea that the shooter was a derelict?
Yep, first the wildfires, now this... just happening 2 hours away from me. :(
I can't believe someone would just try to twist everything around into an attack on Christian values. Ugh.
I wish I could say I was surprised by that level of insensitivity and stupidity but.
Fuck them all sideways with a wire brush.
sigh.
Dimly lit theater, probably smokey haze, 200+ people running around in a mass panic, disoriented, shooter wearing armor. Even if someone HAD had a gun in there (who knows why, it's a fuckig movie theater), it's a damn good thing they didn't try to go all "Shootout at the OK Corral".
So, I must've missed the verse where Jesus said to turn the other cheek and then pull out your 9mm and take the fucker down.
OP: Please allow me to apologize on behalf of MY state for our deplorable representatives in government. :-/
...what
...
You know what really gets me, as a former-Christian (turned Agnostic), is trying to figure out how in the hell you turned this shooting into a case about it ~really~ being about an attack against your own religious beliefs.
There are so many nutters out there!
1. That horrible tragedy took place in a dark room full of panic and tear gas. More guns would not have helped the situation, no matter who was holding them -- especially since the shooter was wearing a riot helmet and a bulletproof vest.
2. Last I checked, at least the "Christian" half of whatever "Judeo-Christian beliefs" are, is directly opposed to carrying guns. Didn't Jesus supposedly tell Peter to put away his weapon when the police came for him, saying "those who live by the sword shall die by the sword"? (Matthew 26:50-52)
3. Using an awful shooting like this to advance his political position -- a pro-gun position, no less? Bad, bad choice.
Did he pull out people that were Christians and shoot them and nobody else? No.
-Uh, it was DARK inside the theater.
-Nobody ever shoots the shooter. All these supposed "good" gun owners are always MIA whenever there'd be an opportunity for them to show the value of more people engaging in concealed-carry.
(FTR, I'm not anti-gun. My husband owns guns. I'm just anti-gun nut, particularly when it comes to conservative gun nuts, which I guess is a redundancy.)
Movie theatre. Batman. Entirely random assembling of members of society, possibly trending towards the young and geeky.
Not seeing how it targets Christianity.
Secondly, I live in Texas in San Antonio to be exact and there are always police officers around the movie theaters in my city.
Thirdly, movie theaters tend to have security guards on watch.
Edited at 2012-07-20 10:03 pm (UTC)
I've never seen a security guard at any theatres in my area, so I can't say for certain whether this is a popular practice or not. There's just the employees who keep an eye out, afaik.