Chain of Movie Houses
Branches Out to Security Theater
Friday, August 21, 2015
Thanks to a new emphasis on searching the bags of moviegoers,
the Regal Cinemas chain is treating its customers to its own brand of security
theater. According to a story
appearing on NPR, the theater chain has always reserved the right to
inspect backpacks and the like to intercept bootleg food and drinks. Now,
however, the company is claiming ticket takers will be routinely conducting
searches of all bags “[t]o ensure the safety of our guests and employees.”
Regal’s revised notice of bag inspections appears on the company's website. It states:
Regal’s revised notice of bag inspections appears on the company's website. It states:
The changes, of course, follow a number of high-profile acts
of violence in movie theatres. To be clear, NRA appreciates that businesses
like Regal that host the public have legitimate security concerns. We do not
believe, however, that “bag checks” by theatre personnel with no security
expertise or training have any effective or plausible relationship to public
safety.
First, anybody seriously intent on doing harm can easily barge past the unarmed ticket taker. Second, the policy only extends to bags. It does not include patdowns or magnetometers to determine if customers are carrying contraband or weapons on their persons. Third, ticket takers may not even recognize certain types of weapons or bags with hidden pockets or compartments. Certainly, with patrons eager to get be seated, movie personnel will not have much time to conduct their newly-added duty. Fifth, in one of the most notorious examples of violence in a movie theatre, in Aurora, Colo., the assailant did not bring his weapons in through the lobby. Rather, he waited until the movie started, left through an emergency exit that he propped open, and reentered the theater with armaments he had stashed in a nearby vehicle.
It’s clear that Regal’s policy is intended to create an impression that it is “doing something” to prevent violence on its premises. In fact, the policy does no such thing. Meanwhile, it will serve to reinforce the common practice amongst movie theaters of banning even the lawful carrying of concealed firearms or other personal protection equipment, items that really could provide a benefit were an attack to occur. It also conditions patrons to believe that their security needs are being provided for by the managers of the property, when in fact they are not.
To the degree Regal’s policy accomplishes anything, it will be to needlessly intrude upon customers’ privacy and provide an advantage to an armed assailant who methodically plots an attack on unsuspecting and disarmed moviegoers. In the realm of security theater, that is not comedy. It is horror.
First, anybody seriously intent on doing harm can easily barge past the unarmed ticket taker. Second, the policy only extends to bags. It does not include patdowns or magnetometers to determine if customers are carrying contraband or weapons on their persons. Third, ticket takers may not even recognize certain types of weapons or bags with hidden pockets or compartments. Certainly, with patrons eager to get be seated, movie personnel will not have much time to conduct their newly-added duty. Fifth, in one of the most notorious examples of violence in a movie theatre, in Aurora, Colo., the assailant did not bring his weapons in through the lobby. Rather, he waited until the movie started, left through an emergency exit that he propped open, and reentered the theater with armaments he had stashed in a nearby vehicle.
It’s clear that Regal’s policy is intended to create an impression that it is “doing something” to prevent violence on its premises. In fact, the policy does no such thing. Meanwhile, it will serve to reinforce the common practice amongst movie theaters of banning even the lawful carrying of concealed firearms or other personal protection equipment, items that really could provide a benefit were an attack to occur. It also conditions patrons to believe that their security needs are being provided for by the managers of the property, when in fact they are not.
To the degree Regal’s policy accomplishes anything, it will be to needlessly intrude upon customers’ privacy and provide an advantage to an armed assailant who methodically plots an attack on unsuspecting and disarmed moviegoers. In the realm of security theater, that is not comedy. It is horror.
Aurora, Colorado
2012
Aurora (CO) theater shootings was a mass
shooting that killed 12 & 58 injured.
Note: Kenneth R.
Feinberg was an administrator of victim payments for the 2012 Aurora (CO) theater shootings, and
is a director at Human Rights First.
William
D. Zabel is the chair for Human
Rights First, was a trustee at the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and George
Soros’s divorce lawyer.
George
Soros’s divorce lawyer was William
D. Zabel, the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights First, and the Harlem
Children's Zone.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, a contributor for the Americans
for Responsible Solutions, is a co-chair at the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the founder of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Americans
for Responsible Solutions is a “Gun
Safety” PAC for guns.
Mark
E. Kelly is a co-founder for the Americans
for Responsible Solutions, and married to Gabrielle Giffords.
Gabrielle
Giffords is married to Mark E. Kelly,
a co-founder for the Americans for
Responsible Solutions, and a shooting victim in the 2011 Tucson shootings.
2011 Tucson
shootings was a mass shooting
that killed 6 & injured 13.
Mayors
Against Illegal Guns is a “Gun Safety”
group for guns.
Everytown
for Gun Safety is a “Gun Safety”
group for guns.
Kenneth
B. Lerer is an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety, and was the chairman for the Public Theater.
Stephen A.
Feinberg is a trustee at the Public
Theater, Martin Feinberg’s son,
and the CEO for Cerberus Capital
Management L.P.
Martin Feinberg
is Stephen A. Feinberg’s father, and
a Newtown (CT) resident.
Newtown
(CT) is the location for the 2012
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
2012
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a mass shootings that killed 28, including the gunman.
Cerberus
Capital Management L.P. is the owner of the Remington Outdoor Company.
Michael P.C.
Carns is a director at the Remington
Outdoor Company, and was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and William D. Zabel was his divorce lawyer.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Harlem Children's Zone, and the Human Rights First.
William
D. Zabel was George Soros’s
divorce lawyer, a trustee at the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and is the chair for Human Rights First.
Kenneth R.
Feinberg is a director at Human
Rights First, and was an administrator of victim payments for the 2012 Aurora (CO) theater shootings.
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