Discussion: Does Aurora Massacre Change Our View of Personal Safety?

Some of the moviegoers at the Thursday night showing of The Dark Knight Rises, in Aurora, Colorado, thought the tear gas and gunfire was part of the show. But once reality set in, they realized they were under attack by what is presumed to have been a lone gunman. 

The gunman was wearing a mask when he set off an unknown gas and fired into the crowded theater located in a Denver suburb, killing 12 people and injuring at least 38 others, including a three-month-old infant, according to a report by the Huffington Post.

This morning, the Huffington Post reports that the gunman was identfied by federal law enforcement officials as James Holmes, a 24-year-old American.

Holmes is in police custody and the FBI says there is no indication that the incident is tied to any terrorist groups.

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks of 2001, Americans have been on various levels of alert, but anyone with an ounce of cynicism has recognized that movie theaters, malls and school events—so-called soft targets because they are gathering locations with little security—are ripe for domestic terror or deranged madmen.

The Friday morning massacre at the Century 16 in Aurora took place about 20 minutes and 13 years from Columbine High, but it’s the kind of tragedy that can open up wounds in every region in America.

In April, a man shot and killed seven of his classmates at Oikos University in Oakland.

And in 2009, Alexander Youshock went to the Hillsdale High School campus in San Mateo wielding a sword, chain saw and 10 pipe bombs with intent to kill teachers, although teachers tackled him before anyone was injured.

All these types of crimes, especially the local ones, remind us how Bay Area residents are just as vulnerable as anyone else.

The incident Friday morning is likely to start a discussion—a very real, very serious discussion—about personal safety in public places.

Let's start it here.

Should metal detectors become as standard as popcorn machines at movie theaters? Will there be no more dress-up at the theater? What about gun control laws?

Add your thoughts in the comments section.