AURORA: Asking the Right Questions

by Martin Maloney

Although there have been stories I the alternative media about the events in Aurora, I’m going to limit the scope of this article to analyzing the mainstream version of what happened.

First, let’s look at the weather. According to weather.com, the temperature at 12:05 AM was 77 F. The Weather Channel

The “uniform” of the typical male attendee would have been T-shirt and cut-offs. Yet we are supposed to believe that the shooter, fully-dressed from head to toe, moreover wearing a helmet, a gas mask, gloves, a bullet-proof vest, a groin guard and a throat guard, furthermore carrying a rifle and a shotgun, would not have attracted any attention. Yep, he bought a ticket and waltzed right in, and no one thought that there was anything strange.

That’s the official take on it:

“Witnesses said the gunman entered the theater at Aurora Town Center through an emergency exit door. But a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the suspect bought a ticket and went in as part of the crowd. He is believed to have propped open an exit door as the movie was playing, the official said.”

Cops: Weeks of planning went into shootings at Colo. Batman screening

Does this pass your smell test?

Let’s move on to the shooter’s weaponry. Again, from the article on the MSNBC Web site:

“Holmes was armed with two .40-caliber Glock handguns, a Remington 870 single-barrel pump shotgun, a Smith & Wesson AR-15 assault-style rifle and as many as 6,000 rounds of ammunition, Oates said.”

How did he obtain those weapons?

“Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the weapons were legally bought from local stores of two national chains — Gander Mountain Guns and Bass Pro Shop — beginning in May.”

(Note the extraneous word “legally.” More on this shortly.)

I decided to “shop” at those stores. The least expensive .40 calibre Glock sells for $579.99 at Bass Pro Shop. The suspect bought two, so that’s about $1200. (Prices range up to $699.99 at the two stores.)

Bass Pro Shop also has the least expensive Remington 870 shotguns, with four models priced at $319.99. (Prices range up to $799.99 at the two stores)

I wasn’t able to quickly locate a Smith & Weston AR-15 at either of those two vendors. Using a search engine, I encountered prices from $981.72 to $1734.37, depending on the specific model.

What I’m getting at is the the four firearms alone would have cost, at a minimum, around $2500. Now add in 6,000 rounds of ammunition, magazines for the AR-15, the bulletproof clothing and whatever devices and chemicals used to booby-trap his apartment, and we’re talking thousands of dollars.

The obvious question is: Where did an unemployed grad student get that kind of disposable income?

Back to the issue of “legally purchased.” Whenever there is an incident like this – remember Virginia Tech and Columbine – critics of private gun ownership call for passing laws against “assault” weapons. Inserting “legally” is designed to trigger (pun fully intended) exactly that reaction.

Then there is the issue of the timing of this incident. It coincides with debate about whether or not the US should ratify the UN Small Arms Treaty.

If you’re not familiar with this matter, then now would be a good time to fire up a search engine.