Average folks, having an average day, enjoying a new release in a packed theater. While the new release family film is mid-way through, a person in a back row stands and ......
At this point, for this fictionalized exercise, the time starts. Tic Toc .....
No one really notices the person, as the semi-automatic weapon is pulled from under a rain coat. While the movie screen is filled with a loud car chase, the first shot rings out. Then another. And another, before people began to realize there was a threat. Tic Toc .... By this time, only 8 seconds have elapsed, and 8 bullets have slammed into the crowded theater, lit only by the bright colored screen images, and the flash of the weapon's muzzle.
The shooter is now blocking the isle to the main entrance/exit (Some newer theaters have but one entrance/exit, except for the emergency door.). More shots ring out, and people are screaming louder than the blasts of the gun. On top of the high volume of the on-going movie, most people still don't know where the threat is, or what is even going on. No one expects such an act of horror at a family film. Still, more shots ring out. Tic Toc .... Now, 15 rounds have been fired, and only 20 seconds have passed, but that's a life time for some.
A few of the people have now found the emergency exit and flee. Others take cover on the floor between the seats. Still others, in fear, confusion and panic, try to exit the same way they came in, and are shot down. By now, in just 42 seconds, 29 rounds have been fired. Tic Toc ....
Mass hysteria has now spread through the theater, and the shooter has moved to have clear shots at more people. Men, women, children, are all in the line of fire. More shots ring out. So far, 43 rounds have been fired, and in just only 63 seconds. Tic Toc ....
People scream, and some try to cover their children, as more shots thunder through the theater. From the instant of the first shot, to now the 50th shot, only 1 minute 15 seconds have passed. While many of the bullets struck seat backs and were stopped, more than 30 people - men, women and children, have been wounded or killed. For the others, they have no idea the shooter has made way to the exit along with other panicking people, and the threat has now gone out into the corridor with them. Tic Toc ....
In slightly more than 3 minutes that have passed. The Police have just started to arrive and surround the theater, and try to figure out who is who while people run out of the building. The shooter, exiting the building with the crowd, raises the gun again. From within the scurrying crowd of people, the shooter fires on police. The police take cover, while trying to return fire without hitting innocent people. With citizens in and near the line of fire, the shooter gets off 7 more rounds, before the police get a clear shot, shoot, and bring the shooter down. A short 3 minutes and 45 seconds had passed, and it was over.
Over 30 citizens shot, wounded and/or dead, in less than 3-1/2 minutes. And a total of 57 rounds were fired.
In most situations like this, it takes a little time just for a call to even go out to 9-1-1. Then, there is a national average of about 3-1/2 minutes for the first Police Officers to arrive. Even then, in such mass confusion, more time is used up to evaluate the situation and plan some kind of armed respond.
Now, most may read into the above and assume an "assault weapon" was used. They would be wrong. For this exercise, I used a stop watch, my Colt 1911 .45 caliber pistol, and 8 total magazines. While all were empty for safety, I can tell you that I am experienced enough to know that someone with some experience could shoot and reload under pressure, while shooting with a fair degree of accuracy, all those rounds in less than 2 minutes! I dry-fired what would be the first 8 rounds, then physically reloaded a magazine each time (these are normal 7 round magazines), pushing down on the slide release, then repeated dry-firing (Even this, was in a single action manual hammer back motion with each "shot", which would be a bit slower than normal rate of fire.). This was not done as fast as possible. I used a consistently quick pace, but not speed shooting. And I changed the direction of my aim, side to side, with each pull of the trigger. All 57 rounds could easily be fired in far less than the 3-1/2 minutes, as long as no one was shooting back!
No so-called assault rifle, machine pistol, or other automatic type weapon. Just a determined person with a maximum capacity of 8 round pistol (7 in the mag, and 1 in the chamber), and extra every-day available "low capacity" (7 rd) magazines, and with less than two boxes of ammo. (In my usual trip to the range, I will take 4 or more boxes of 50.)
High capacity isn't really the issue. The deranged evil person, DETERMINED to do such evil, is the problem. As I tried to demonstrate, I used an every day semi-auto pistol with normal 7 round magazines, to create the fictionalized mayhem.
While I don't think arming everyone is the answer, I'd submit this - If someone in the theater had a lawful firearm on them, could that person have returned fire right away, thus ending the massacre before the shooter reloaded? As the above was storied, everyone in the theater were unarmed sitting ducks! And you can bet your last dollar, any "FIREARM FREE ZONE" placard, would NOT have stopped any bad guy from doing anything! By the way, when you're being shot at, most all accurate firing goes out the window. So even someone returning fire without actually hitting the bad guy, will most likely disrupt, if not stop, the assailant's shooting. Such shooters COUNT on their victims being helpless, and UN-ARMED, so their cowardly plan of attack goes out the window too, when confronted by an armed person.
There are some 300+ million firearms owned by some 70+ million American citizens. And those 70 + MILLION lawful gun owners, don't harm anyone. They obey the law, own and lawfully use their firearms of all sorts, and in many cases prevent crime.
Our problem is not our "gun culture" of firearms ownership. Our problem is our failure to commit resources needed for proper mental health care services (an estimated 16% of our prison populations have serious mental illnesses), monitoring those who have shown a propensity for armed violence, and properly confining those convicted of violent crimes. (Long and/or state prison sentences for non-violent crimes, is a waste of space when we need to keep actual predators locked away.)
PS: I contemplated doing a video demonstration of the fictional scenario using live ammo, but felt it could be too much to display, and could give someone a visual lesson on rapid fire and speed reloading. As for the written description of such a horrible, but fictional, event, I feel the point was important enough so we don't get side-tracked by stupid solutions to an evil problem.
PPS: I would encourage every business to post signs, that say, "Off-Duty Police Officers and Licensed Concealed Firearms Holders Welcome Here". (If I ran a theater, I'd even offer some free tickets to all Off-Duty Police Officers.)
