<p>Regardless of Colorado - the movie was amazing.</p>
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It might have been. In this case it appears that the shooter had 4 weapons and I think I read that when he emptied the shotgun he dropped it and moved on to another weapon. In reality though, certain weapons can be reloaded quite quickly - especially any weapon that uses a clip. </p>
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A shotgun isn’t limited to a single shot. They can hold 8 or so shells. </p>
<p>A gun that can shoot thousand of rounds per minute is a fully automatic weapon and those aren’t legal for normal citizens to own. In addition, they, of course, don’t hold thousands of rounds of bullets so whatever they hold basically gets fired off quickly - a few seconds. It’s also very inaccurate when fired in full automatic mode but that doesn’t matter so much if shooting into a crowd. It seems that very few of these shooters use fully automatic weapons - they’re usually using semi-autos (one round fired per squeeze of the trigger). Unfortunately the semi-auto can do plenty of damage as can a revolver with a speed loader and a shotgun although they’re more difficult to reload quickly.</p>
<p>IIRC, if you think someone is a danger… something can be done. </p>
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<p>So absolutely incorrect. </p>
<p>A mom & dad near me were killed by their bipolar son. While everyone was shocked, they were not exactly surprised. The parents had tried so hard to get help for their son, and everyone knew about their struggles. In many ways, I guess it was inevitable. How very sad.</p>
<p>Amsie-
Your question is a very good one… without an easy answer. No one wants to go back to the days when people were involuntarily and in correctly institutionalized in deplorable conditions. Yet on the other hand, how can we do a better job of identifying those with mental illness? Oftentimes peace officers, doctors, evalutors, etc disagree when it comes to the definition of the person having to be “acutely dangerous” to themselves or others. Perhaps addressing that verbiage might be a starting point.</p>
<p>Apparently Holmes’ family stated they were ‘surprised’ by the actions and the reports I’ve read by people who were acquainted with him in both HS and college indicate that they noticed nothing particularly unusual about him other than he was quiet and intelligent and a bit of a loner, which describes many people. </p>
<p>We’ll need to wait to see how the story unfolds to see if there were any outward signs that this individual had the mental issues he obviously has. Unfortunately I think there often aren’t directly noticeable signs for some of these people (but for some of them there are some signs). Even if in retrospect they seem like they might have been slightly off or just a quiet loner type that describes so many people who would never do something like this that I don’t know what anyone could do beforehand. </p>
<p>It’s a complex issue.</p>
<p>That’s interesting. A news report I read stated that when reporters went to the parents house, which was apparently before they had been notified, mom was reported to have said something to the effect of, “oh god, you have the right person,” and ran into the house to make calls. I doubted whether this report was entirely accurate, if at all, but I wonder what the real story is.</p>
<p>^^ I heard that as well, Ema. The ‘surprise’ statement was apparently the family’s first ‘official statement’. I think we’re still waiting for all the facts to come out.</p>
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<p>I don’t think he dropped a gun, he reloaded multiple times according to the interview that I heard. One guy was saying he was able to run out the exit while he was reloading and made eye contacts, the shooter looked at him but let him go while he was reloading. Also he carried only 3 guns, the other gun was found in the car but was not used. The AR-15 was the one that did the most damage with maybe 100 rounds in the special magazine and can fire over 50-60 rounds a minute. If he did not have that there probably would have been a lot less damage.</p>
<p>^ the AR jammed before he could fully unload it.</p>
<p>“Sixty explosive devices, including 30 homemade grenades, were among the dangers found in the booby-trapped apartment of alleged Colorado cinema gunman James Holmes, as authorities set off a controlled detonation in a bid to enter”</p>
<p>[Business</a> News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com](<a href=“The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial & Economic News, World News and Video”>The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial & Economic News, World News and Video)</p>
<p>About the only good thing was he didn’t choose to murder students on his campus.</p>
<p>^ He couldn’t possibly have done that - schools are gun free zones :rolleyes:</p>
<p>But seriously, how is that possibly a good thing? There is no “good” place for something so terrible to happen - it is equally horrible no matter where it happens.</p>
<p>His parents still live in the area in a white two-story house on a quiet suburban street. A white Mitsubishi SUV was parked in front of the home on Friday.</p>
<p>Plastered across the back window was a sticker that said, “To Write Love On Her Arms,” the name of a nonprofit group that, according to its website, is dedicated to helping people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.</p>
<p>[Colorado</a> shooting suspect: A doctoral student with few signs of violent edge | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-usa-shooting-denver-profile-idUSBRE86J19H20120720]Colorado”>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-usa-shooting-denver-profile-idUSBRE86J19H20120720)</p>
<p>I know it’s cliche-ish, but I just have to point out that very, very few people with mental illness attempt or commit homicide.</p>
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<p>I’d guess that the percentage of people that aren’t mentally ill (I mean schizophrenia, bipolar, depression) that commit homicides is lower than that of the general population.</p>
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<p>I have no basis for making any sort of educated guess, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it turned out that the percentage of people with mental illness who commit homicides (especially, perhaps, if you include everyone who suffers from clinical depression) is the same or less than it is for people without any mental illness. People with mental illness suffer a lot from the general assumption that they’re inherently “dangerous” to others. Which most certainly aren’t.</p>
<p>^^ But one could argue, IMO rightly, that anyone who commits a random act of anonymous mass murder like this has a mental illness of some kind since only very few people would do something like this. It may not have been diagnosed prior to the act but that doesn’t mean they don’t have something wrong with them mentally. This isn’t something any rational sane person would do.</p>
<p>But I agree with psyche_ that most people with mental illnesses don’t murder people.</p>
<p>I’d guess that people that are mentally ill are less likely to commit homicide but more likely to kill/injure multiple people if they do.</p>
<p>I think that those that suffer from depression are much more of a danger to themselves than to others. I have only known of one person that committed suicide at the office - he suffered from depression and he had support from his co-workers but at some point he couldn’t handle his problems anymore. I saw this person from time to time and I had no idea that he had problems. This was quite a while ago, perhaps before the availability of better meds to control the problem.</p>
<p>I had a friend that went through a really tough patch several years ago. He talked about killing himself and I didn’t know whether or not he was serious. He had a great job, was well off financially, in excellent health but under stress. I just spent a lot of time talking with him and doing things with him. Then all-of-a-sudden, everything just started clicking with him - he met someone, his family relationships improved markedly, he started living life, etc. and now he’s doing fabulously well - to the point where I don’t see him as much because he’s doing these other things with other people.</p>
<p>On schizophrenia - research in the last few years points to maternal influenza as a potential trigger in schizophrenia - along with the genetic component.</p>
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<p>[url=<a href=“News - www.caltech.edu”>http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13039]Researchers</a> Discover Link Between Schizophrenia, Autism and Maternal Flu - Caltech Media Relations<a href=“There%20was%20a%20press%20release;%20there%20is%20no%20copyright%20notice%20on%20it%20so%20I%20included%20several%20paragraphs%20above%20what%20I%20would%20consider%20fair%20use”>/url</a></p>
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<p>Mass murders are fairly rare though. I’d guess that the number of mass murders is dwarfed by domestic disputes, gang-related killings, and alcohol-fueled arguments and fights.</p>