The state of Colorado hasn't murdered anyone since 1997. I'm not gonna get off a politcal tangent here, but if the state decides against capital punishment, dude will get his in prison.
I don't know why dude did what he did, and none of us will for the next few weeks. Regardless of his motives, he was wrong. People went to the theater for a good time, some ended up dead and many others hurt. Also, with the above posters, who brings their kids to a midnight showing? That seems like irresponsible parenting right there.
Cali has ridiculous gun laws. My stepdad had to wait 3 months after ordering his pistol to receive it. My brother, who is a prior corpsman, who certified with pistols in the navy, was denied the right to own a gun because of a crime he committed at age 14 in another state. Sometimes I miss living in Alaska where damn near everyone has a gun, and you don't need a permit to open/conceal carry.
Even if people had access to guns in the theater, dude entered through the emergency exit and threw smoke grenades and started firing. I think if people were shooting back, there would be more collateral damage and deaths than there were. All i've been hearing about this is stupid political messages. This is a tragedy, and it's easy to put a spin on it. Point is, it happened and now we need to figure out how to deal with it. Some say gun control, some say better access to mental health facilities, but I am not going to comment. I'll leave that for people who are actually in a position to make a difference.
I feel bad for the people murdered and wounded, and all families affected by this guy's choices. I guess all we can do is wait and see what we can do to help (if anything) .