Having written several articles on gun violence and remembering exactly where I was after Columbine, I know that very few security professionals are interested in restricting access to firearms.
But clearly this is terrorism. This is murder. All the outcry about abortion, and protecting fetuses, and there’s not even a peep when 12 young people are gunned down, having done nothing to deserve such a vicious fate.
So what we are talking about is HOW TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC from acts of terrorism and murder.
Anyway this could have been prevented?
1. Now we know he was under a psychiatrist’s care, he should have flunked the assault rifle purchase test.
2. If the theatre had true locking back doors, and alerts when they were propped open, he could not have
come back inside with his arsenal.
3. If the back door had cameras and was monitored, he could have been caught, or at least, the public address system could have warned the patrons in the theatre.
Since none of these things were done, a terrible tragedy took place.
I think we are safer with cameras everywhere and active, real-time monitoring of those cameras. I’m all for controls like panic alarms (which should be as common as fire alarms), and for annual security assessments.
Maybe we can learn something.