The lights dim in the theater and moviegoers are excited to see the premier of a highly anticipated film, when suddenly a gunman walks into the theater, and opens fire on the crowd. This may seem like a scene from a horror movie, but on the night of July 20th, 2012 this scene became all too real. At the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 more. This horrifying incident changed the way people go to the movies. Security was increased at theaters across the U.S. and theater companies enacted new rules to protect patrons. However, similar incidents have occurred and many believe that the best way to put a stop to theater violence would be to install metal detectors in theaters across the nation.
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over the past few years, the safety of moviegoers is a growing concern. Since the Aurora, Colorado shooting, there have been two other major incidents at theaters in the United States. During the 7:30 p.m. showing of “Trainwreck” on Thursday, July 23rd, 2015 at the Grand Theatre 16 in Lafayette, Louisiana, a gunman stood up and turned this comedy movie into a horror film. The gunman opened fire upon the crowd about 20 minutes into the movie, killing two people and injuring nine others. Dee Stanley, chief administrative officer of Lafayette, Louisiana stated that of the nine injured, some were in “very critical” condition with life-threatening injuries. When officers arrived in theater, the shooter took his own life (Belzman, Calabrese). According to ABC News, on the evening of August 5th, 2015 a shooter walked into a showing of “Mad Max: Fury Road” at the Carmine Hickory 8 Theater in Antioch, Tennessee armed with a hatchet, pepper spray and a “very realistic” air-soft gun. Fortunately, only three people were exposed to pepper spray and one man had a cut from the suspect’s hatchet. The shooter was killed at the scene (Keneally). How many more of these terrible incidents are going to occur until security measures are added at theaters? This is why public safety in movie theaters is more important now than ever before. The addition of metal detectors in movie theaters is a possible solution to stopping these violent attacks around the
over the past few years, the safety of moviegoers is a growing concern. Since the Aurora, Colorado shooting, there have been two other major incidents at theaters in the United States. During the 7:30 p.m. showing of “Trainwreck” on Thursday, July 23rd, 2015 at the Grand Theatre 16 in Lafayette, Louisiana, a gunman stood up and turned this comedy movie into a horror film. The gunman opened fire upon the crowd about 20 minutes into the movie, killing two people and injuring nine others. Dee Stanley, chief administrative officer of Lafayette, Louisiana stated that of the nine injured, some were in “very critical” condition with life-threatening injuries. When officers arrived in theater, the shooter took his own life (Belzman, Calabrese). According to ABC News, on the evening of August 5th, 2015 a shooter walked into a showing of “Mad Max: Fury Road” at the Carmine Hickory 8 Theater in Antioch, Tennessee armed with a hatchet, pepper spray and a “very realistic” air-soft gun. Fortunately, only three people were exposed to pepper spray and one man had a cut from the suspect’s hatchet. The shooter was killed at the scene (Keneally). How many more of these terrible incidents are going to occur until security measures are added at theaters? This is why public safety in movie theaters is more important now than ever before. The addition of metal detectors in movie theaters is a possible solution to stopping these violent attacks around the