Posted on 07/31/2012 4:42:54 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater
A screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Cookeville., Tenn., was halted on Thursday after a theater worker reported seeing a moviegoer with a gun.
According to the Cookeville Herald-Citizen, a police officer who arrived at the auditorium discovered three men with handguns.
The men didn't think they had done anything wrong: Each was one of the state's 344,000 handgun carry permit holders. They were told to put their guns in their vehicles, in accordance with theater policy, and then the movie resumed.
The story didn't make national headlines, unlike the July 20 "movie massacre" in Aurora, Col., that left 12 people dead when a gunman opened fire during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie. But it resonated among movie theater owners and exhibitors, who are grappling with ways to increase security without discouraging audiences, violating state laws or riling gun enthusiasts.
"This is a raging debate, and we are looking at all of our options," said Jimmy Tashie, executive vice president for Malco Theatres Inc., which operates 30 cinemas in five states. But the bottom line is, "We don't want people bringing guns into our theaters, period."
Tennessee law allows permit carry holders to bring handguns into movie theaters, restaurants, clubs and other businesses, unless the business prohibits this by posting signs, "displayed in prominent locations," said Kevin Crawford of the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security.
Possession of a weapon on "posted property" is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $500, according to state law.
(Excerpt) Read more at commercialappeal.com ...
Geez why didn’t they think of this before???
If only they had a no-gun policy BEFORE Holmes came to the theatre...
“We don’t want people bringing guns into out theaters, period.”
What a foolish statement made by this idiot Jimmy Tashie of Malco Theatres. He wants to take away his customer’s ability to fight back against a psycho killer.
Does Tashie think Holmes could have given a rat’s a$$ about the “gun-free” zone in the Aurora theater?
I would wait for the movie to come out on DVD before I would set foot in a Malco theater.
> “He said in the wake of Aurora, Malco was assessing all aspects of its security policies, including the increased posting of signs to prohibit guns.”
That’s the ticket. Sideshow Bob probably did not see a sign. More signs would have prevented the tragedy. (/s)
Great idea. Maybe you should ban them. That way, nobody will come in and shoot the pla— oh, wait a minute...
I’m glad I live in Indiana. Except for specific places (schools, State Fair, etc.) you will not be charged with carrying a gun with a valid LTCH (license to carry handgun). Property owners can ask you to leave and you can be charged with trespassing if you don’t.
These theater owners are not very bright. The Aurora theater had no-gun signs, the city had unenforceable local laws banning guns, and all that did is make the carnage worse.
a$$ backwards.
had the Colorado theater not been a Gun Free Zone....
this ‘joker’ might have been dead before he fired his second shot.
All these signs do is disarm law-abiding citizens, and mark the target zones for terrorists and psychopaths.
They should offer a discount to customers who carry.
Exactly right. Theaters should encourage an armed audience. How about a discount for CCW permit holders?
Exactly, we/they are providing a form of security/insurance service(s) for them.
Just as a business is entitled to determine their own policies, I am free to patronize a different business, and to let the first one know I won't be back. I refuse to disarm myself and become a member of the herd, waiting for the slaughterhouse.
Based on police actions as reported in the Cookeville paper, it appears open carry is legal in TN. The Memphis article did not make it clear that the observed weapon was carried openly while the other two were concealed and not spotted by employees. The concealed carriers were made to “out” themselves when the police came to the theater. They passed the test on not being observed with proper concealment while the open carrier made a tactical error by entering a posted location unconcealed.
OK is about to enter OC legality (November) but I can foresee a similar theater situation occurring here. I have no objection to OC, especially if it were legal now in temperatures that exceed 100 degrees. However, entering an obviously posted place, like many theaters are now, is just not smart.
Smart, licensed handgun owners are ordered to put their weapons in their vehicles. what happens when the car gets stolen? Or broken into? Maybe had a license handgun carrier been at the Batman movie the carnage would have been limited.
It just goes to show...unless the cop is directly looking at YOU—don’t stand up!
Dad...who has passed now for 6 years had been NYPD for 22 years....
when we went to movie theaters in the 50s and 60s, Mom would buy tickets for her and us kids...and dad would flash his shield and go in separately and we would regroup once inside
it was WRONG to do...but the theater owners(especially in the Bronx at the time)loved the fact that there was a cop there in case hooligans acted up....
I believe this theater chain, as a private business, has the RIGHT to prohibit their patrons from carrying weapons (specifically guns).
HOWEVER
In doing so, the business then takes full RESPONSIBILITY to protect their patrons!
If I were a CCW holder at one of these theaters and was prevented from protecting myself should a incident occur, I’d sue their pants off!
That is correct. In Tennessee, our permit is called a Handgun Carry Permit and allows both open and concealed carry.
I added “banglist” to the keywords, for added viewing by those interested in 2nd amendment/firearms related posts. ;)
Theaters of Death is how I see it.
And why the theater is about to become history just like drive-ins. And if any theater allows a CCW in they will still probably find a way to search for concealed food instead, and that is my pet peeve and that is the outrageous inflated food pricing for foul tasting popcorn and watered down drinks.
This may be my last year of attending any new release film, my widescreen is sizable and I can pause for a bathroom break plus I have options for language and captions.
Quite frankly this year I have seen maybe not more than three decent movies, and a lot that fooled my by hype into thinking they were fair entertainment, of which they were sorely lacking. With the plethora of instant movie reviews now available by my smartphone I am learning to select ahead of time, but even armed with that knowledge its just the fact that the theaters just do not give me peace of mind.
Given that I have three very small kids, my wife and I don’t go to movies very often. We saw “Avengers” and “Dark Knight Rises” and I believe my wife and her mother took our oldest daughter to see “Brave” and “Beauty and the Beast 3D”, but that’s about it.
I do enjoy going to see movies on the big screen, but the prices are getting ridiculous, and they full-on demand that we disarm ourselves while providing no additional security of their own. Home theater systems have been making a sizable dent in theater profits, and I do have a good home theater system...
The theater we went to in WA was in a potentially ghetto area (at least, the patrons were ghetto), so I still carried every time we went, just in case. They and their signs can go to hell.
The state must clearly define liability for gun-free zone policies.
If a business wants to deny civil rights, they should accept the liability for the safety of those who enter.
My goal is to eventually duplicate a full on mini version of my own movie house, a row of decent movie seats or recliners, a digital projector on no less than a 10 foot screen, a good sound system. Full soundproofing so I can enjoy the sound as its supposed to sound like.
And to have closed captioning. My own gourmet popcorn with SALT. I actually do have a room with a 12’ ceiling designed for a projector but its my hobby room right now, no I would rather invest in better widescreen TV equipment than to go to the movies anymore, being first to see a new movie hype is lost to me.
I believe the lawsuits against the theater chain in Aurora have already started. It should be interesting to see what the arguments are and what precedents are set as a result.
Hopefully they’ll ensure the exit/fire doors also have “No Guns” signs, so no psychotic homicidal maniacs use them for entry in performance of their evil deeds.
Malco overwhelmingly dominates the Memphis market. Fearing precisely what happened in Colorado, I haven’t been in a Malco theater without a firearm in years. Until I read this article I had no idea they have a no-gun policy. I will not be going back unless and until their policy is changed.
Since my wife and I rarely agree on what we want to see, she goes to the movies with our teenage daughters and I typically go with my brother and father. All three of us are licensed to carry and we are always armed. I bet the people in Aurora, Colorado, would have appreciated three law-abiding trained shooters in the room when James Holmes walked in.
I took my youngest children to see the new Ice Age movie last weekend and noticed that the emergency exit was propped open. I was concerned I might scare other moviegoers by fiddling with the door, so I reported it to the Malco staff. A helpless pimply kid was dispatched to see about the door, not security. I stopped going to my preferred theater because at times it became overrun with rowdy urban youth. Malco was seemingly unable or unwilling to deal with them, so I have zero faith in their ability to deal with a psycho.
It would be very interesting to hear what exactly is their security plan. From what I can tell, it looks like 1) signs, and 2) call the cops. There may be security cameras in there, too, but that still doesn’t solve the security issue.
I’m in the process of emailing them via malco.com as we speak. I will post their response, if any.
That sounds like a good project, but I’ll just wait for the rentals to come out.
And, unless they can show me that they have trained snipers posted in every theater to compensate for my loss of self defense, I will not enter theater premises disarmed.
Until theater chains get their heads out from where the sun never shines, it looks like the DVD business is going to flourish! And every $$ I save on theater tickets will go straight into the huge-screen HDTV fund...
Leftist theaters -- who needs 'em?
It's been claimed that the shooter wore body armor. When approached by the police, he immediately gave himself up.
Somebody pointed out that the obvious reason he wore body armor must have been that he feared that somebody might stop his rampage. If the killer believed that there was a possibility that he might be stopped by other than the police, why is it that liberals and some Freepers believe otherwise?
“We don’t want people bringing guns into out theaters, period.”
Businesses are allowed to post signs banning guns. Once they do this. It is their responsibility to protect the unarmed customers. 911 is not protection from a crime. You dial 911 after a crime is committed, not before.
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