My two bits on the colorado shooting

Having been a communication major, I notice the way things are phrased in news reports.

In a CNN opinion piece,  this guy made the claim that "And in a crowded setting, such as the movie theater clouded with tear gas and smoke, it would be virtually impossible to distinguish the bad guy with a gun from the good guys with their guns."

This claim is tossed out as an automatic reaction, to discourage people from carrying guns for personal protection. While it may be accurate sometimes, the 'virtually impossible' line is misleading. Every situation is different, but most of time it's pretty easy to tell who the murderer is.

When someone says that it would be virtually impossible to distinguish between good and bad, the implication is that it would be virtually impossible for the POLICE to distinguish, because the police will surely be arriving any second, and therefore you really don't need to carry a gun.

Of course in this case, the police showed up in time to grab the guy as he was getting into his car in the parking lot.

But as even more striking evidence that the line is at best a knee jerk reaction, and at worst a deliberate deception, see this video.

It is a video of a crowded business, where there are two men with guns. Do you think these patrons were confused about who was good or bad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t5f5AwkkiY





 In this case it was pretty easy, in some cases it might not be so easy to distinguish, but it's wrong to lie in order to discourage people from taking responsibility for themselves.