Several incidents in recent days involving screenings of the new Batman movie underscore the heightened anxiety about security at movie theaters in the wake of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo.
-- On Monday, about 100 moviegoers in Edgewater, N.J., were evacuated from a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" after a patron saw a man opening an emergency exit, police told NJ.com.
The patron who called the police said that about 90 minutes into the show, a man stood up, walked to an emergency exit and spoke to someone outside. He then returned to his seat, but wouldn't come forward when the police arrived at the theater. The showing was canceled as a precaution.
-- A 52-year-old moviegoer in Norwalk, Calif., was arrested Sunday after allegedly shouting about a gun and the recent movie-theater shooting in Colorado, sheriff's officials said Monday.
Clark Tabor allegedly created the disturbance during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," sheriff's officials said.
Several witnesses told police the suspect appeared to hold his cellphone in the air and yelled, "Does anyone have a gun?" and "I should go off like in Colorado."
Tabor was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and is being held on $50,000 bail plus unrelated warrants, police said.
No weapons were found on the suspect, in the theater or its surrounding area, or in Tabor's residence, police said.
-- Also on Sunday, a fight broke out in a Pittsburgh screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” No weapons were found and no arrests were made, officials said.
-- A 27-year-old man in Arizona was arrested Friday on suspicion of disorderly conduct and threatening and intimidating after witnesses say he appeared drunk and was acting strangely during a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Sierra Vista, according to The Associated Press.
A moviegoer confronted Michael William Borboa, which led to about 50 people fleeing the theater, the AP reported.
-- In Maine, a 49-year-old man claimed he carried a loaded gun in his backpack into a recent showing of the movie, state police said. Timothy Courtois was stopped Sunday morning for speeding when police found several guns in his car – including an AK-47 assault rifle. Courtois reportedly told authorities that he was on his way to shoot a former employer a day after watching the Batman movie.
NBCLosAngeles.com and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Theater massacre suspect appears in Colorado court
- Past aids Aurora response, but were warnings unheeded?
- Aurora shootings: 911 dispatcher recalls night of horror
- 'Goat man" spotted in Utah mountains
- 'We will remember' rampage victims, shocked Aurora vows
- At least 13 killed in Texas pickup truck crash
- Video: How easy is it to get assault weapons?


I wish they would return the Bible, prayer, and corporal punishment into the public schools. Things like this show that we need to return to the moral compass that more people had back in the 1950's.
Yeah right. The folks who held onto segregation and Jim Crow laws (and attended Church every Sunday) had an excellent moral compass. Please.
Give that feces about the 50s and 60s a rest. It's irrelevant.
Bibles and prayer have no place in schools, at least public ones. Schools are for facts, not ideologies.
Well, I guess the bible could deflect the bullets. Not so sure about the rest.
Oh, please, statistics say that 80% of these people were likely Christian. As Christians point out, the nation is 80% christian...James Holmes was raised Christian and he still murdered people. Ever stop to think that it's not the LACK of religion making people kill - it's HAVING it that makes people go nuts?? the Judeo-Christian religion has been around for 6000 years and people are still killing each other. Think about it.
What a ludicrous statement! I guess Charles Starkweather lived during a different decade? I guess the KKK was nowhere to be found in the 50s and 60s because they're not christians, right? In fact, 80% of prisoners proclaim to be christians.
What a ludicrous statement! I guess Charles Starkweather lived during a different decade? I guess the KKK was nowhere to be found in the 50s and 60s because they're not christians, right? In fact, 80% of prisoners proclaim to be christians.
@johnny_concerned
Evolution is not a fact! Still just a theory. MOST think it is a lie. So much for your, "Schools are for facts, not ideologies". Know why they have never found, and have given up looking for, "the missing link". It does not exist. I KNOW our origins are higher than monkeys...if you have no more self respect than that you are entitled. Oh, wow, there is that pesky word again...entitlement.
Well said Petercha, good to know there are others out there who still have some hope for this Godless country.
Yea, more people have been killed in the name of "god" than any other...That is more frightening to me than anything I have read in a long time. That's a fact.
Evolution isn't a fact, it's a scientific theory. Much different then what you're making it out to be. MOST think it is a lie? Regardless of rather you pulled that out of your butt (which you did), most would be wrong. Haven't found "the missing link"? Is that what your church tells you? From monkeys? Do you know anything about Evolution?
Where are those intelligent Christians?
I disagree about religion being a need in school. I think the main problem with society today is coming from home environments. Most of the families I know are women who have children with several different men and there is no emphasis on teaching children right from wrong. Computer games and even IPOD apps are nothing but shooting people, torturing people and causing trouble. For children who don't have an adult that can discuss empathy and the importance of kindness and love with them, those children don't have a chance. Not to mention the over stimulation we have from constant computer, television and electronics...certainly a lot more mental illness then in the past. It is a very scary future for our country indeed.
I agree that our schools should add in prayer, our flag and discipine. Our country was founded, one nation under God forever, which made our country great. Now ??
Not exactly. Here are a few points to ponder:
1. Where is God in the Constitution ... which is the law of the land. Please ... I'll wait (and even provide you a handy link so you can read it for yourself).
http://www.heritage.org/constitution
2. Please point out something in writing from our founding fathers that our country was founded "one nation under God". That phrase is actually in the Pledge of Allegiance. Which, by the way was written by a Baptist minister. Let me quote you the ORIGINAL version:
'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
Note: No "one nation under God" in the original which was, remember, written by a Baptist MINISTER.
That phrase was added in 1954 as a part of McCarthyism and under pressure from the Catholic church.
Don't believe me? Google it for yourself.
So now the copycats come crawling out from under their rocks. With a population of 310 million, there certainly is no shortage of weirdos, kooks, morons and nut cases.
I don't think most of you Christians really know what you're asking for when you clamor for the God of the Founding Fathers...
and what does it have to do about this story???
bible thumpers uh
The 1950s, a superior moral compass, when we had Jim Crow laws and women were pressured to stay out of the work force and be good little wives to their superior husbands? Yeah the 50s were peachy if you were a white male. Otherwise, not so much.
@Beth-440386 - Great comment. I'm from Scotland and even I knew it was not one nation under God. The crap spouted by some media outlets in the last decade or so has skewed the way God has been perceived in the U.S. constitution.
I'm not really sure where all this religious zealotry is coming from in regards to these shootings. Blame gun culture more than lack of religious upbringing, blame entitlement - yes BobW-3215303, it is a pesky word for a reason, why? Western media is continually showing us how the other half live, and some people are realising that it is not going to happen for them and act out, some with violence, others through more constructive means.
There is plenty of blame to go around, and blaming the guy who did the shootings is fine as well, however, where was his family and friends? A lack of communal support contributed to this happening IMO more than anything. This, for me anyway, is a simple price that modern civilisation sometimes pays for the fracturing of society.
I can remember, back when I was in school, we had prayer and the pledge of allegiance to open our day. There were NO GUNS in school then, coincidence? Likely not. But then again, the family units were also much, much, much stronger. Parents actually gave a sh** about their kids. Hell, I watched every freakin western around back then, gun violence? Per capita, not nearly as high as now. We cannot continue to place blame on what we watch and are exposed to, it falls back on the home unit 99.999999% of the time. When parents fail, kids fail simple as that.
BobW.
Evolution is not a fact! Still just a theory
You mean it's a fact you refuse to accept, because dude....evolution is fact and god is mythological.
It does not exist. I KNOW our origins are higher than monkeys...if you have no more self respect than that you are entitled.
Where do you even get entitled in this argument but since your breached that wall. Every member of every religion, including christianity think they are the only ones entitled to "salvation"
Get over yourself, evolution is real. You know our origins are higher than monkeys? Our origin are primordial ooze you bone head. Go ahead try reading a book of facts instead of fiction or are you scared to learn something?
That's what I love. Everything would be so much better if we shoved Bibles down people's throats and beat the living daylights out of children. I think we need to accept a hard truth and that truth is that we have a bunch of nuts living in this country and you can be religious all day long (hell, I'm Catholic) and you can spank your kids all day long, that don't change the fact that we have a bunch of mental cases in our midst. We have a love affair with violence. We love war. We love guns. And we love violent movies. We are a violent society and always have been. And with that comes violent people. There are probably millions of ticking timebombs just walking around. All the Bibles and corporal punishment isn't going to change the fact that there are millions of deranged individuals in this country are fixing to go over the edge at some given point.
Our problems have more to do with the economic compass of the fifties than the biblical.
When an environment becomes nearly impossible to survive in, people are going to start doing this kind of thing.
Hmmm. You also had no internet in school back then either. With the Internet even kids can get their hands on things that was nearly IMPOSSIBLE for teens to get a hold of then. We have a lot more accessibility to guns now than we did in the 50's. (Think Walmart, gangs, etc.)
This has nothing to do with prayer ... but your comments about PARENTING have much more validity. (And, btw, you can be a great parent without prayer)
We've all been told that freedom of speech STOPS at the point of yelling FIRE in a crowded theater.
Now, you can't yell "GUN" in a crowded theater either. RIGHTLY SO. Remember The Who concert from Cincinnati in 1979 when 11 people died from being trampled? Stuff like that actually happens. Jokers (pun intended) yelling "GUN" in a crowded theater just days after this tragedy deserve to be arrested. They deserve to pay big bucks to a lawyer to defend their right to needlessly incite a panic and risk people being tampled in the ensuing melee. It may seem funny at the time when you're drunk and with your buddies.....
The WHO concert had absolutely nothing to do with anyone shouting anything. Plus, you all need to stop being scared little school girls, hiding every time a shadow crosses your path.
The Who concert illustrates how easily people can be killed when a crowd panics. The danger of inciting a riot is REAL, as evidenced by what happened in Cincinnati, not how it happened.
Now, how "shadows crossing a path" is comparable to yelling "FIRE" (or GUN) in a crowded theater is something I have trouble understanding.
And for those who don't remember, the reason for the Who disaster was a sound check that the people outside mistook for the actual concert starting. People panicked, thinking the band was on and they were missing the actual concert.
Here's a better idea. Quit showing the movie and send it straight to blu-ray. Problem solved.
gday67: Good idea I like that one.
@gday67
VERY good idea. It would not be the first movie removed from public viewing. And before any of the freedom of whatever folks start screaming that sort of thing has already been settled by the Supreme Court. The movie can be banned from public viewing...but allowed for private viewing.
Yeah like that would ever happen! The producers haven't made enough money, as evidenced by the last paragraph. I hate to say it, but they seem put off that an evil person rained on their premier night.
I think anyone causing any problem such as these few incidents should definitely be taken into custody and charged with whatever fits. If you are so completely insensitive as well as a moron you deserve to at the very least have some monetary damage to your finances by having to hire a lawyer to get you out of your own stupidity.
Are you guys on crazy pills? You see, the reason why I'm asking this is that you guys - I presume in the U.S. are all against bowing to terrorism, all for fighting for the freedoms that made America great etc etc. Because a lot of you seem to think the appropriate response is to a guy who most likely has mental health issues who happened to crash a midnight premier showing of Batman by killing and injuring scores of people is to ban public showings of a Batman movie?
Come on people, this is how terrorism wins. Don't give into fear. Keep living free, or die trying.
that does not suprise me . that some nutcase would follow . look at the school shootings . after the first school shooting . ended up being. a few after . i will not even take my son now to a theater . i dont feel safe any where . this is a sick world. we have stories and the media making killers and sick people famous . what is the world coming to . and the people that dies pays the price
I think we should just simply outlaw everything!!!!! No more evil, nasty, bloody, violent, movies or video games!!!!!! No more anything!!!!!!! We have 320 million people in this country and most of them are just normal law abiding citizens. If someone gets it in their head that they want to be violent like all the movies and the video games they watch and play, I can assure you nothing is going to stop them; where there is a will, there sure as he!! is a way!!!!! Do not fool your self that they will not find the means to do what they want to do. Obviously if Holmes had not been able to find any guns, he would of just blown up the theater!!!!!! You outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have the guns. These people have been totally desensitized by the constant viewing of violence in movies and videos games. You do understand that people that have not been raised with guns and have never see anything get shot, they do not understand what a gun actually does or the pain it in flicks. There really is NO reality when someone gets shot in a movie or video game. I bet Holmes had never gone hunting!!!!!!
Yeah I wonder what video game Jack the Ripper played? Or what movie Lizzie Bordon watched? The Boston Strangler I'm told was a great fan of GTA. Oh wait I know, Idi Amin got his ideas from a Chaplin movie.
If someone is demented enough to do these atrocities they will. It's called mental illness...not pop culture. Holy Crap!
Great post Johnny, I was about to say the same thing.
Kim from Utah: I grew up with evil, nasty, bloody, violent, movies and video games. I also am the generation that started with the first home computer games and the first gaming console. I still to this day play or watch evil, nasty, bloody, violent movies and video games let me tell you something sunshine Movies and Video games don't make you violent.
Leatherneck,
lol you date yourself. And so will I with this one...I had pong the first year it was available commercially, and I was a teenager ha ha. I still haven't killed anyone with a ping pong paddle.
But I did play ping pong in Ding Dang.
I wrote it below, but American movies are actually less violent and have less sex than movies/tv around the world. Yet we have higher violent crime and murder rates. America is what it is. We glorify something called fame, while weapons are too easily accessible. Anyone who wants to make a name for themselves can and the media will just eat it up. Unfortunately, Holmes got exactly what he wanted. Nothing is going to stop people like him, while it can happen in any town or city.
And people really need to stop blaming movies and video games. While maybe at one time a decade or so ago, it might have been true. All the studies now say that gamers are actually less violent than the general populace.
@Gabbo1
Not just movies...how about some of our BEST cartoons? Where do you think Obummer would be cast in a George Of The Jungle cartoon? I have a pretty good idea.
Please, don't hold back -- share with the rest of the class; where would he be cast?
This thing called "Bob W3215303"... is the first idiot(post#3.5)-- on this comedy vine to bring his infantile variation of POTUS Obama's name into his stupid BS!
Naturally, his kind just can't help themselves with that crap. No doubt!!
....well all this aside, I thought it was a good movie.
Your comment gave me a good laugh. I don't think anyone else got what you were referring to.
Entertainment Security Administration - coming soon to a theater near you
Be sure to show up 2hrs before movie time so you can be frisked and fondled!
Sounds more like this movie has opened the doors to a string of idiots.
A month or 2 ago I went to a movie theater for the first time in around 14 years. As we stood outside in line there were 2 sheriff officers walking up and down the side walk. As we got closer to the ticket booth I noticed 2 more deputies standing on either side of the ticket taker. I asked the one sheriff what the special occasion was that deemed them necessary to be there. He looked at me and said "it's just a typical Friday evening."
After talking to a couple of people I realized that there are always 4 deputies at the theater, 2 inside and 2 outside, for "security" reasons.
How effing pathetic is it that we have to have armed police or sheriff at a movie theater!? Since that night, I have not found one single movie theater in a 3 county area that doesn't have them.
And what's funny is that if this kind of thing, had it happened at the theater I was at, there would have been nothing those LEOs could have done to prevent it. The guns they carry wouldn't have penetrated the outfit this guy was wearing, well maybe a face shot but most cops can't seem to hit crap with a gun. (You see these stories that say cops fired 57 shots at one person and there were no injuries.)
I'm not sure what's worse, knowing the fact that people like this guy DO and HAVE existed since the beginning of mankind or that our failed Government deems it necessary to force upon us a police state.
And if our failed Government keeps it up like they have since 2001, before you know it ChinaMart will have armed cops or the National Guard as greeters...
The studio should never have killed the Robin character.
As a first, small step I favor "common sense" regulation of the entertainment industry in view of its massive influence on American culture. Intensely violent plots and imagery deleterious to mental health or that may trigger violent reactions on the part of mentally unstable people should be banned.
Point: Nobody NEEDS to see a movie like Batman! Moviegoers should be limited to viewing no more than one violent movie per month.
Point: Nobody NEEDS to see more than one violent movie a month! (In that regard, I actually propose a new rating: V for extreme violence.)
Before attending a V-rated movie, moviegoers should be required to undergo classroom instruction aimed at helping them to safely -- and sanely -- view violent content. They should be taught the difference between moviemaking fantasy and reality, for starters. We can't have people overreacting to the violence they are exposed to in the movies.
Following such instruction, they need to be licensed before being permitted to purchase movie tickets. Further, the minimum age for attending a V-rated movie should be 21. And, of course, moviegoers should be required to undergo background checks pursuant to their licensure. A paranoid schitzophrenic or convicted felon should NEVER be allowed to watch a movie like Batman! Talk about adding fuel to fire!
Again, all I'm advocating for are reasonable, rational, common sense regulations. Nothing any reasonable person -- even the most die-hard movie fan -- could possibly have cause to object to.
That would be ludicrous. The group that is in charge of handing out ratings is already corrupt and sanctimonious. Now you want to give them even more power? American movies are actually less violent and have less sex than movies/tv around the world. Yet we have higher violent crime and murder rates. America is doomed to mediocrity and regulation.
Wow...I am so flabbergasted at this post...so you are advocating we become old school Russia or China???
I know a good joke when I see one. Awesome post!
shirley you can't be serious...
@San, you were the only one who got it!
Sorry but should they introduce any more security in theatres myself and every member of my family will boycott. I am NOT, will NOT, be treated like a darned criminal (akin to airports) to PAY to see a movie. Not gonna happen. This is now a nation of cowards. We cower in fear because of one person going nuts and hurting folks, we cower in fear about news articles and stories of what might have happened. No doubt there will be folks who claim PTSD over going to movie theatres and anxiety disorders for it.
Sorry but I REFUSE to be held in grip of terror by terrorists. I REFUSE to hand over rights and freedoms to placate the paranoid. I REFUSE to give people like this psycho the satisfaction of truly winning and allowing him to have any impact on my life.
In a nation where people turn to litigation and sue at the slightest (or even imagined) hint of inadequate protection for some reason or other (or whatever "reason" of insufficiency they can come up with for getting a piece of someone else's hide through litigation), businesses, communities, cities and states have no choice but to take extraordinary measures. If response isn't deemed fast enough or adequate enough or just plain enough, someone objects and an investigation has to be done - at taxpayer expense.
Sadly enough, there will be quite a few people who suffer from PTSD. The six year olds, the 10 year olds, 12 year olds who shouldn't have been there in the first place. They will forever be changed in a negative way when they had to climb over dead people and were covered in other people's blood who were dead.
And yes, I am against going to movies in the theater now until everyone has seen it and the theaters are almost empty because while I'm not worried about the shooter in Colorado, I'm worried about other idiots out there who are crazy and want to be a copy cat. Living in fear that stops you from living is one thing, but using common sense is another.
If people where allowed to govern themselves in this matter like all the others. The original gunman would have been shot and all the other people crying wolf would have been beaten. The only thing that keeps this going is the media coverage and people knowing that they will have no real consequence to it.
Delta, I guess you are a real fan of the the Wild, Wild West....shoot 'em up days. One thing people never seem to bring up in gun discussions is the crappy accuracy people have when using them. Even law enforcement people like local police have horrible accuracy statistics.
The dude was wearing bullet proof gear on his head AND body, was shooting in a dark theater, and he interfered with vision by using gas. You really think Joe Citizen could have taken him out?
The "wait until it comes out on DVD" personality types must be feeling quite smug these days.
Where is cat woman during all this carnage ???
we would not have these problems if we went to see midnight showings of "The Lord Savior Rises"
That's because nobody would be in the theater in the first place Praisedalord
People are killing each other continuously in God's name!!!------"havn't you heard??"
what if Jesus wore a Batman costume? I'd watch that.
Hopefully, people will start to learn that it's not worth spending money to go to a movie theater when you can watch it in the comfort of your own home for ALOT LESS!! You wait a few months, then go out and buy the movie!!
It amazes me that there are people in this country who have $160 million to spend on something that lasts only 120 minutes!!!
Actually it's something called fun. Maybe you've heard of that concept. There's something fun about going out and watching a movie on a big screen. It's also called social interaction. That's where you go out and are around other people. If we all stayed cooped up in the house and never left it except to go to work or church, I think we'd have a lot more homicides.
This article should be entitled "public hysteria incidents at theatres". The movie itself is irrelevant.
Our nation has far too many people just waiting to be afraid of .... something .... doesn't matter what, just as long as there is something to be paranoid about.
Some butt heads act out and the media goes into another full over blown tornado
Dig your avatar....Dick can kick serious @ss. Seen him twice.
It's about time... another area is the focus of shootings instead of a city shopping mall, or school, or public street, or place of employment. This problem is spreading like a cancer and will eventually kill the victim since it can't be cut out (surgery), poisoned (chemo), or burned out (radiation). Symptoms of a sick society... and getting worse.
So nothing then. This was a pointless new article. How many people are arrested for something stupid (or a real crime) at theaters across the nation everyday? What a fail on scare tactics on this story.
First you get this @sshole shooting Innocent people and now you have people acting like idiots!! And would all you people who are anti-gun STOP blaming the NRA!! The NRA DID NOT KILL ANYONE..this worhtless thing that calls himself human did!! I hope they put him in general population..lets see how long "Joker" keeps smiling and how long he thinks this is some kind of joke!! Don't worry son your day is coming!!!
No, but the NRA (National Redneck Association) doesn't want to outlaw automatic weapons. A person has a right to defend themself, however if you feel like you need an automatic weapon to do that, I think you may want to consider moving to another area. All automatic weapons do is compensate for what they may be lacking in other areas of the body. Think if everyone in the theater was armed. Bullets flying everywhere. Who would be left sanding? The crazy with the full body armor.
todd there were no automatic weapons, no assault weapons. One person with a concealed weapon and a little tactical knowledge could have eliminated the threat short of 75 people being injured or killed with one well placed round to the face.
The NRA is not advocating violence or the ownership of automatic weapons. In fact they teach gun safety and train people how to handle, store and fire weapons in a safe nonlethal manner and how to identify and react in a situation where it has to be used in a defense mode so that only the criminal is incompacitated
BS Dean, In a dark theater with people screaming and running you think some gun-totin moron is going to be able to take out a crazy person in full body armor, that's using an automatic weapon and gas canisters? You've been watching too much TV. If the crazy only had a hand gun he would still be able to kill but the odds of him being over powered are considerably increased. And I don't care what the NRA teaches. Automatic weapons are meant for one thing: to take out as many people as quickly as possible. So get over your limitations in your manhood and write your congressman to outlaw automatic weapons NOW!
I'll blame whoever the eff I want.
@todd345- He was not using an automatic rifle...
These nutjobs are obviously Avengers fans.
We Humans have a real problem on our hands---we enact laws continually to try to protect ourselves from each other----but these laws are becoming less and less effective!!------then what are we going to do?
I believe the whole race needs a 'shrink'---!!
I don't like the fact that every story about this incident brings out all of the God vs non God people. This story has nothing to do with that. Please stop arguing about it. Sometimes it has nothing to do with how they were raised, sometimes there is a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes them crazy.
Just like all of innocent people who were killed in the towers, those peope in the theater were just living their lives. It is unfortunate that there are idiots out there who think they can solve anything by killing humans to satisfy their needs. It is even sadder that there are those idiots who think it's funny and want to be a copy cat and cause futher disruption of life. What is really scary is that those idiots reproduce.
There have been mentally ill people with us throughout history. I remember people coming to pick up their kids from school carrying shotguns during the Starkweather killing spree. I attended school with Charles Starkweather's younger brother and he was fine, but lots of kids were afraid of him. Everyone was terrified to go anywhere. I agree that we cannot be held hostage by a minority of freaks. They will always be out there.
The minority of humans who hate other humans is apparently growing----in fact I wonder if they are in the minority---just read the newspapers!!
Maybe, just maybe, modern life is becoming too complicated for the average human---he/she can't deal with the stress----maybe, under our thin veneer of sophistication lies a prehistoric individual who cant cope!!!---I can't think of any other explanation!!
Mass hysteria. Guns are here to stay, including para military semi auto rifles. They need to change the privacy laws to enter into a data base to prevent the mentally ill from purchasing weapons, however, they have not addressed it based on privacy issues and would rather talk about making more impotent laws that prevent nothing from happening and not enforce the ones they already have. A ban will not stop this, banning hi cap mags will not stop this, (you can change a mag in less than 1/2 a second and continue shooting), only an armed society will stop this or lessen the impact of the terrorist or insane by direct intervention. Of course, banning guns will make it easier to kill innocent people as the possibility of an armed encounter with an "armed" citizen would be nil wouldn't it? No clear answer and NO, banning ANY firearms at all, is certianly NOT the answer.
Uh, we are the most well armed society on the face of the planet, and we have more of these incidents than any other nation.
It's being reported that this incident is causing gun sales to rise sharply in Colorado.
People who have a gun in their home experience more gun deaths in their homes than people who do not. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110427101532.htm
While we may be one of the better armed societies, until you carry armed, it does no good to leave it home or in your car. (You forgot the Swiss where everyone had a full auto rifle and serves in the reserve and has to shoot/practice several times yearly.)
In addition to idiots posting their hatred of eachother:
Aurora, CO--As a result from requests by victims' families and from the defense attorney, Judge Sylvester has ruled that video cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom during the July 30th hearing.
No word yet on medical testing of Holmes nor plans for brain scans.