PostHeaderIcon The REAL Problem In Aurora

As we all knew would happen, the usual gang are howling for more gun control, for an assault weapons ban, for a federal registry, for most anything that would limit our gun rights. And this would stop all atrocities such as happened in Aurora, right? Hardly!

So, join me in playing out a different scenario in Aurora…

I am a certifiable loon and I have some grievance (real or imagined) that can only be ameliorated by slaughtering some folks I never met, so off I go to do the deed that must be done.

I decide a crowded movie theater is a good venue and that the thing will be best done after dark.

So, off I go to the nearest sporting goods store and ask the guy at the counter for the “Rambo Special”, complete with body armor. Said guy tells me that Colorado has just passed some serious gun control laws and there is no way I can purchase said Rambo Special.

Which takes me to Plan B. Off I go to WalMart where I purchase a quart container, a cell phone and a quart of gasoline. Then I go home and slightly modify the cell phone such that vibrate becomes detonate.

Later that evening, I arrive at the chosen theater, park near an exit door, buy a ticket, stop at the snack bar and purchase the pig-out-super-size popcorn tub, enter the theater and take a seat. I wait there, taking the occasional munch of popcorn, until the movie is just about to begin.

Then I let myself out through the exit door (leaving it ajar), go to my car, pour the popcorn into a grocery bag, place the container of gasoline and the modified cell phone/detonator in the popcorn tub, pour enough of the popcorn back into the tub such that it appears full again, let myself back into the theater, and return to my seat.

I sit there a few minutes, again taking the occasional munch of popcorn then I get up, place the popcorn tub in my seat and very politely ask a person seated nearby to “please keep an eye on my seat and my popcorn while I go get a soft drink”.

Off I go toward the snack bar but, rather than stopping, I head right out the main entrance, go back to my car, and drive away. Several miles down the road, I dial the modified cell phone/detonator and the fireworks begin.

The best aspects of Plan B: it was far less expensive than the Rambo Special would have been, it probably caused even more casualties, and it allowed me to be far from the scene when things hit the fan. The only downside: no Rambo performance.

Now what are the frantic nannies to do? Demand a ban (or at least a registry) for popcorn tubs, quart containers, gasoline and cell phones? Of course not. Such would be ridiculous.

Oh yes – I did mention the REAL problem in Aurora didn’t I?

Ask yourselves this question… are there places where we want to ensure that “exit” doors cannot be used as a stealth entry point for firearms, explosives and the like? Of course. Airport Terminals are a great example. For sure, Airport Terminals have true “emergency exits”. The difference between these and your garden variety “simple exits” is that you no more than touch the panic bar on one of these beauties when all hell breaks loose with sirens whining, bells ringing, lights flashing and security people coming from all directions.

The lesson here? Simply that, in any installation where safety and/or economics make it undesirable to allow an exit door to be used as a stealth entry, you simply install a true “emergency exit” with bells and whistles as described above. No individual rights get restricted, no individual is prevented from escaping through the exits, yet the possibility of reentry is nil.

Another good reason for such “emergency exists” comes to mind. Some years ago in North Carolina, a poultry processing plant caught fire and nearly 30 people died because the “exit” doors had been chained shut. This was done because some employees had been using the “exits” to pass stolen poultry products to accomplices waiting outside. One can easily imagine this sort of thing going on elsewhere even today. True “emergency exits” would have prevented the theft and also prevented the deaths of those innocent workers.

Alas, such simple and obvious solutions seem to be too much for us to comprehend.

Think about it.

Troy L Robinson

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