# Isn't anyone going to Pit the Denver Batman killer? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919 "2012-07-21T01:17:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gvozd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gvozd/32/7301_2.png) [@gvozd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gvozd)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/81 "2012-07-21T23:44:17Z")
> [@The\_Dord](#): > > very unlikely. As you do. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/82 "2012-07-22T00:44:45Z")
don’t believe it. No matter what he says his motivation was, he hates other humans, is totally self-involved and has zero empathy. Probably has been that way most of his life. Maybe practiced for medical school by torturing small animals. He must not be taken seriously. PS: I don’t believe for a second he’s legally insane, but he’s a sicko any way. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/83 "2012-07-22T01:00:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I heard from someone (reliability factor -1, I know) that his mother was not surprised. If you commit mass murder and mom is nonplussed, that’s gotta be a sign. If what I heard is incorrect, my apologies to the killer dude. Sorry, personal pet peeve. Nonplussed doesn’t mean what you think it means. Nonplussed means you are confused and unsure of what to do or say. If Mom was nonplussed it would mean she had no idea he was going to pull this shit. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/84 "2012-07-22T01:10:16Z")
This was a terrible thing. My heart goes out to everyone involved. But…as to the gun question…does anyone know about the [Bath School Disaster](http://daggy.name/tbsd/tbsd-x.htm)? Here’s the [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster) link. The only gun used was when the killer blew up his car and ended his life. Crazy people are crazy. They don’t need guns to kill people. My mentally ill friend isn’t allowed to own guns, but he is able to buy the ingredients to make bombs. Tony is a clear and present danger to himself and others when he’s off his meds. What should happen to him? Should we just kill him now, because its possible that he might do something like this? Should we lock him up and throw away the key to keep society safe? Should someone go to his home and hold him down to be sure that he takes his meds? That person won’t be me, I don’t want to die. I think its not the guns that make this sort of thing happen. Yes, guns do make it easier…but it also makes it more personal. The shooter in this case was in one part of the theater. It would have been much worse if he had taken a page out of Kehoe’s book. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/85 "2012-07-22T01:25:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t want him to be mentally ill or neurologically atypical or any other way of being “disordered”. I guess I want him to be a normal guy who just happens to be evil. Sorry, “normal, evil guys” just go to law school. Or become telemarketers. Seriously, mass murder is beyond evil, well into Schizo/Whackjob territory. Like maybe if someone bought “Feed My Starving Children” and turned the whole organization into a telemarketing empire. A Pyramid Scheme Scientology magazine subscription telemarketing empire… And, btw, I hate “nonplussed”. I’ve run across it in a couple of audiobooks, and the nice, smooth narrative grinds to a halt. You can tell the reader is thinking _“What a stupid word… what exactly does it mean? The opposite of ‘plussed’? Does anyone even get ‘plussed’ anymore?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/86 "2012-07-22T01:47:53Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > don’t believe it. > > No matter what he says his motivation was, he hates other humans, is totally self-involved and has zero empathy. Probably has been that way most of his life. > > Maybe practiced for medical school by torturing small animals. > > He must not be taken seriously. > > PS: I don’t believe for a second he’s legally insane, but he’s a sicko any way. As a courtesy, would you mind posting an image of your doctorate in psychiatry for us to inspect? ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/87 "2012-07-22T01:57:49Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/88 "2012-07-22T02:00:34Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Look, it’s all very well and good to sit here and make jokes about the event, but think about a three month old infant as one of the injured. What kind of a fuckhead brings a three month old to a midnight premiere of a Batman movie? That’s the kind of thing that spoils the movie going experience for everyone. Three month old I can understand, it could sleep through it. The six year old is the one that makes no sense. Who in their right mind would bring a six year old to a violent and scary movie like that? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/89 "2012-07-22T02:09:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > To me, the deal is that it takes the easy availability of advanced weaponry for the problems of a mentally ill person to become the problems of a whole bunch of other people too. > > Besides, you don’t think we libruls want a more mentally healthy society? Sheesh. We’re working for a country with less economic stress on common people, with universal health care, yada yada yada, but it’s taking longer than we hoped. But I’d also like to see it be a little harder for a single nutcase to shoot 70 of his fellow human beings, given the unfortunate persistence of mass shootings. > > In another forum, earlier today, another commenter did the old ‘shouldn’t you instead be doing something about the greater number of people killed by cars each year’ bit. From _Unsafe At Any Speed_ to air bags and beyond, we have in fact been working on that. Hell, we fight for mass transit and high-speed intercity rail which would get more people off the road and into a much safer means of travel, and we run into opposition all the way. It’s not like we’re not fighting for these things already. > > Besides, if we were to only fight against the most serious threat in the world, we’d be doing climate change and nothing else; screw unemployment or the economy or health care or anything else. That would be pretty ridiculous. > > So I think it’s right and fitting to address this problem we have, where one person can shoot 70 people in just a few minutes. If there’s something we can do to make that a lot more difficult if not impossible without revoking the right to possess firearms, we should do it. And it’s hardly a dereliction of some other, greater, duty to do so. I stand in agreement with you. If the 1st Amendment activists can give ground in agreeing that kiddie-porn is harmful to society and hurts the innocent, then the 2nd Amendment activists should also give ground and be willing to agree that unregulated possession of assault weapons is unnecessary and that people with dangerous psychological conditions should not be allowed to possess guns. The NRA needs to wake up and realize that rational gun possession laws that protect the innocent are in their best interest. You used the auto analogy. Detroit lobbied hard against safety regulations and fuel economy standards. It was going to put them out of business. Guess what? Those standards saved their sorry asses that were being beaten by foreign competition. In hindsight, what have we ended up with? Cars that are so much better than anything we could have imagined back in the day when the Detroit execs were being dragged, kicked and screaming, into the real world. Now, after the big bad government saved them from their own bad management, they are looking at record profits. How terrible. The NRA should pull their sorry heads out of their sorry asses and start to agree to some sane regulations on guns. It’s in their best long-term interest. (There are 5,000 gun dealers in the US within 50 miles of the Mexican border. Mexico has a drug war going on and the guns are coming from the US. How can anyone with a conscience lobby to protect this atrocity? The drug war is tearing at the fabric of the US and Mexico.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/90 "2012-07-22T02:28:34Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > The NRA needs to wake up and realize that rational gun possession laws that protect the innocent are in their best interest. Ban scary looking guns? Stupid beyond measure. “Assault weapons”? They’re just semi-automatic weapons that look scary. They’re functionally no different than the .22 semi-automatic I have. During the worst of the 80’s and 90’s attempts at “gun control”, the Brady Bunch made it clear that their intent was to ‘compromise’ on gun control one step at a time, until guns were banned. Hell, the fuckers crowed about this with every small victory! Propose “reasonable restriction”. Gain “compromise”. Once in place, propose next “reasonable restriction”. Rinse and repeat until no more guns. So now, when people like you propose “reasonable restrictions”, people like me remember how that works, and we say NO. We’ve also seen how it worked in Canada and Australia. There is no point at which the Gun Control Advocates stop, until there are no guns. Mentally Ill people shouldn’t have guns, I’ll (largely) grant you. For that matter, they probably shouldn’t have a lot of other things, including things that are already illegal like drugs. \*\* And for that part, people who are mentally ill or drug addicts are already legally barred from purchasing firearms\*\*. Like anything else, making something against the law doesn’t mean it automatically stops happening. But who makes the decision that someone cannot buy guns and when? What line does the person have to cross?\* What culpability do these deciders have if they pass someone who later commits a crime, or fail someone who poses no danger to anyone? I certainly have no desire to have some Magical Committee looking me over and deciding which Rights I get to have as a citizen of this country, or allow them to do as much to anyone else. Doctors? Sorry, no. I’ve seen doctors who would automatically disqualify everyone from owning guns, drinking alcohol, etcetera, just on principle. - This guy doesn’t seem to have triggered any kind of alarms with anyone or shown any kind of mental illness. How would these so called “reasonable restrictions” have stopped him from any of this? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/91 "2012-07-22T02:47:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > \*\* And for that part, people who are mentally ill or drug addicts are already legally barred from purchasing firearms\*\*. Like anything else, making something against the law doesn’t mean it automatically stops happening. > > But who makes the decision that someone cannot buy guns and when? What line does the person have to cross?\* What culpability do these deciders have if they pass someone who later commits a crime, or fail someone who poses no danger to anyone? I certainly have no desire to have some Magical Committee looking me over and deciding which Rights I get to have as a citizen of this country, or allow them to do as much to anyone else. Doctors? Sorry, no. I’ve seen doctors who would automatically disqualify everyone from owning guns, drinking alcohol, etcetera, just on principle. > > - This guy doesn’t seem to have triggered any kind of alarms with anyone or shown any kind of mental illness. How would these so called “reasonable restrictions” have stopped him from any of this? That is why I pointed out that that is only half of the history, when you have a pathetic health care system, specially regarding mental health, you are bound to miss a mess of the ones that should be under treatment and away from guns. And that is why I think you are only half right, sure, mentally ill people already can not get guns, but the whole truth is that we are making a lousy job of identifying and \*\*helping \*\*those people before it is too late. It has to be pointed out here that on the last discussion I found out that thanks to pressure from outfits like the NRA many states have very pathetic systems that they use to identify and report that kind of people to the federal government, I do find that to be a really crazy way to deal with the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/92 "2012-07-22T02:53:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And that is why I think you are only half right, sure, mentally ill people already can not get guns, but the whole truth is that we are making a lousy job of identifying and \*\*helping \*\*those people before it is too late. Well you know, if we work to make sure everyone has adequate health coverage, we’ll end up with Death Panels, massive government fraud and control over our lives, and our Great Country will go right down the tubes. :rolleyes: (In other words, I agree with you.) But I still have to wonder if any of it would have identified people like this guy. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/93 "2012-07-22T02:57:53Z")
I realize that we cannot help but cover these news stories to death, but the fact is, it is the extensive and exhaustive coverage that breeds copycats. I remember back in the 1980’s when there was a wave of high school suicides in the Twin Cities. With every major news coverage of a death, there would be several more in the wake of it. Finally, after several months of this, the parents of some of the dead kids actually went to the media and begged them to stop giving the suicides such exhaustive coverage. The media agreed, the stories stopped, and soon enough, the wave of suicides came to an end. Unfortunately, the media doesn’t work like that anymore. And so with these things, every time it happens and dominates the news for days on end, there are sick people out there who consider it a roadmap for getting the attention they’re not getting now. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/94 "2012-07-22T03:03:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > But I still have to wonder if any of it would have identified people like this guy. Well, there is no worse fight than the one that is never made, and I do have a beef when I see many states even fighting basic mental health care reforms, like Colorado with their opposition to the ACA (Hello! Very relevant now IMHO) and IIRC they are also one of the states that do have a lousy way of identifying and reporting to the federal government the people that have mental issues and should not use guns. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/95 "2012-07-22T03:21:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Ban scary looking guns? Stupid beyond measure. > > “Assault weapons”? They’re just semi-automatic weapons that look scary. They’re functionally no different than the .22 semi-automatic I have. > > During the worst of the 80’s and 90’s attempts at “gun control”, the Brady Bunch made it clear that their intent was to ‘compromise’ on gun control one step at a time, until guns were banned. Hell, the fuckers crowed about this with every small victory! > > Propose “reasonable restriction”. > Gain “compromise”. > Once in place, propose next “reasonable restriction”. > Rinse and repeat until no more guns. > > So now, when people like you propose “reasonable restrictions”, people like me remember how that works, and we say NO. > We’ve also seen how it worked in Canada and Australia. > There is no point at which the Gun Control Advocates stop, until there are no guns. > > Mentally Ill people shouldn’t have guns, I’ll (largely) grant you. For that matter, they probably shouldn’t have a lot of other things, including things that are already illegal like drugs. \*\* And for that part, people who are mentally ill or drug addicts are already legally barred from purchasing firearms\*\*. Like anything else, making something against the law doesn’t mean it automatically stops happening. > > But who makes the decision that someone cannot buy guns and when? What line does the person have to cross?\* What culpability do these deciders have if they pass someone who later commits a crime, or fail someone who poses no danger to anyone? I certainly have no desire to have some Magical Committee looking me over and deciding which Rights I get to have as a citizen of this country, or allow them to do as much to anyone else. Doctors? Sorry, no. I’ve seen doctors who would automatically disqualify everyone from owning guns, drinking alcohol, etcetera, just on principle. > > - This guy doesn’t seem to have triggered any kind of alarms with anyone or shown any kind of mental illness. How would these so called “reasonable restrictions” have stopped him from any of this? You managed to totally miss my point. The slippery slope doesn’t have to be that. I said that the 1st Amendment advocates gave ground on the kiddy-porn issue. The 2nd Amendment advocates have to give some ground. The intractable stance of the NRA in not in anybody’s interest including their own. They are leading us down to a path of eventual more gun control, not less. As to “this guy”, so you want going to a movie to be like going through an airport? The NRA psychos want to let everybody carry. Yea, I want to go into a movie theater and hope that when the gun battle breaks out the good guys win. What if they don’t? The movie theater industry is dying and this might just kill it off. Does that create jobs? The NRA wants everybody to be able to carry anything. They are a bunch of sick fucks. I don’t want me or my family or anyone else to be caught in the crossfire. That’s not safety, that’s insanity. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/96 "2012-07-22T03:43:20Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > You managed to totally miss my point. _ **The slippery slope doesn’t have to be that.** _ I said that the 1st Amendment advocates gave ground on the kiddy-porn issue. The 2nd Amendment advocates have to give some ground. The intractable stance of the NRA in not in anybody’s interest including their own. They are leading us down to a path of eventual more gun control, not less. That part I coded for emphasis? I suspect there’s a fundamental disagreement with **Chimera** on that point. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/97 "2012-07-22T03:46:37Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > You managed to totally miss my point. > > \ > > The NRA wants everybody to be able to carry anything. They are a bunch of sick fucks. I don’t want me or my family or anyone else to be caught in the crossfire. That’s not safety, that’s insanity. No, I haven’t missed your point. You’re an alarmist. We have Concealed Carry here and most everywhere else. Completely contrary to alarmist predictions, it hasn’t resulted in Wild West shootings. **Anywhere**. I held one myself up until January of last year when I let it lapse for financial and uncertain housing issues. Records have shown that CCW holders are extraordinarily law abiding. A couple of weeks back the Strib (StarTribune) did a story about how there were over 100,000 permit holders in Minnesota. One of their notes was that while an amazing 1 in 7 Minnesotans has some kind of DUI violation on their record, a mere 1 in 525 CCW holders does. The revocation rate for bad behavior is something on the order of less than 1 in 10,000 permits per year. In short, I trust a CCW holder with a gun more than I trust you with a plastic knife in your hands. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/98 "2012-07-22T03:55:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > That part I coded for emphasis? I suspect there’s a fundamental disagreement with **Chimera** on that point. Yes, there is. We have to get away from the absolutes. What I would also like to say to Chimera is that this statement . . . > [@](#): > > “Assault weapons”? They’re just semi-automatic weapons that look scary. They’re functionally no different than the .22 semi-automatic I have. . . . is absolute, total bullshit. To equate an AR-15 with a 100 round clip and a .22 rifle used for plinking is the ultimate nonsense. It’s beyond comprehension. It’s like saying that just because a person is licensed to fly a Cessna 172 he should be able to fly, without question, a Boeing 747 or an F-35. Fuck the NRA and all their propaganda. They are a big part of the problem and they don’t care about a solution. We are all worse off because of them. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/99 "2012-07-22T03:57:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > In short, I trust a CCW holder with a gun more than I trust you with a plastic knife in your hands. At your peril. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/100 "2012-07-22T03:58:31Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > To equate an AR-15 with a 100 round clip There’s no such thing as a 100 round clip, dumbass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919.md?page=6)