Discussion: Does Aurora Massacre Change Our View of Personal Safety?

At least 12 dead and 38 injured, several seriously.

One gunman and one crowded theater.

The specter of copycats.

Southern Californians will awake Friday morning to live shots coming from Aurora, CO, where James Holmes, a young gunman reportedly wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest, opened fire during a midnight showing of a movie expected to gross $200 million this weekend.

The number of deaths and injured isn't confirmed. As information become available the figures could change up or down. But no matter what the final numbers are, there is one definitive: It's a tragedy.

Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said: "Another senseless shooting where innocent young lives have been lost. I have no information on what happened other than what is on news reports. We as a country must find a way to do a better job at treating the mentally ill. In many cases, the system simply does not know what to do with these individuals. Until we find proper treatment, these incidents will continue to occur. Cutting funds that treat the mentally ill is only adding to the problem. My heart goes out to the victims and their families."

Since the September 11 terror attacks of 2001, Americans have been on various levels of alert, but anyone with an ounce of cynicism has recognized that movie theaters, malls and school events—so-called soft targets because they are gathering locations with little security—are ripe for domestic terror or deranged madmen.

The Friday morning massacre at the Century 16 in Aurora took place 19 miles and 13 years from Columbine High, but it’s the kind of tragedy that can open up wounds in every region in America.

Including Southern California.

• Seal Beach is only nine months removed from the in which eight people were killed and one injured.
• The McDonald’s massacre in 1984 resulted in 21 killed and 19 injured outside of San Diego.
• The in 1976 ended with seven dead and two injured.

All such events—not just the local ones—remind us of just how vulnerable we are.

And it brings with it the specter of copycats who think they can do it just a little better—or bigger.  

Do we keep the status quo and prove that we haven’t been beaten, or do we make changes because we want to see next year, want to see our kids get married and our grandkids grow up?

The incident Friday morning is likely to start a discussion—a very real, very serious discussion—about soft targets.

Let's start it here.

Should metal detectors become as standard as popcorn machines at movie theaters? Should there be armed security, or will a thick dude in a yellow jacket be enough to stop someone carrying a gun who wants to get in with or without a ticket? Will there be no more which apparently allowed the Aurora gunman to enter with a handgun, a rifle, a gas canister and a gas mask?

What do you think this morning in light of Aurora, the newest name in tragedy? Will you let your kids head to the Cinepolis in Laguna Niguel to see the film or will you think twice? Will you worry every time the visit the ?