There’s an old saying: any publicity is good publicity. This, though, might be just a tad over the line. A movie theater in Jefferson City, Missouri paid a man to walk into a showing of the new Iron Man 3 movie wearing “tactical gear” and carrying what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle. The man was part of a group of actors who were at the movie theater (pictured above via Reddit). But in a dark room and with memories of Aurora still fairly fresh in people’s minds, things could have gotten a little hairy. Which they did, when the police were called, reporting an active shooting incident. Oh, and just FYI, Missouri is a “shall issue” state that honors permits from almost every other state in the union. The local ABC news station has more . . .
During the opening weekend of the latest ‘Iron Man’ movie, a man walked into the theater in full tactical gear and carrying a fake gun.
Jefferson City police and witnesses, however, are not pleased with the stunt and are questioning the theater’s logic after recent shootings in Aurora, Colo. and Newtown, Conn.
John Molock is a retired Army war veteran and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He told ABC 17 News this most recent trip to the movies triggered memories he never wanted to relive.
“We had just finished watching Iron Man 3,” said Morlock. “We’re just getting into the car when I spotted a man in full assault gear, carrying what appeared to be a modified M-4 and 9 mm on his side.”
Morlock did not call police, but several other moviegoers did.
“We received a series of 911 calls stating that a man dressed in all black and body armor and a rifle was walking into Capital 8 Theaters,” said Capt. Doug Shoemaker.
Officers thought they were responding to an active shooter investigation.
“Everything was in place, it’s the opening night of a superhero movie, it’s somebody walking in all-dark clothes, everything pointed to bad things about to happen,” said Shoemaker. “There’s really no good that can come of this.”
Instead, it was all part of a publicity stunt for the movie opening. The man in tactical gear was an actor carrying a fake gun.
Capital 8 Theaters manager Bob Wilkins told ABC 17 News this was planned months in advance and only a few people were upset, but hundreds were entertained.
The local news station is playing up the “PR stunt to drive sales” angle here, but they do have a point. What would you do if, in the middle of a superhero-themed movie, some guy walks in and looks, for all intents and purposes, to be about to shoot the place up?
Apparently this theater makes a habit of paying actors to dress up as characters from the films, which they apparently think adds something to the whole movie experience. Something that can’t be had by downloading the flicks and watching them at home. And while that may be the case, a quick warning beforehand might have been in order. Especially given the circumstances.
Good things come in pairs!
Wow that actor needs to buy a lottery ticket. The fact the police didn’t shoot him is amazing. Oh the CCW guys they would probably react appropriately.
I don’t get it. Why’s Ironman need an M4 and a 9mm. The man fires energy blasts, for pete’s sake.
Hey Borat…. I make this look good baby!
Y’all can keep yer left an’ right; I’m likin’ bein’ a centrist!
This story could easily have read “Capital 8 Theaters manager arrested on charges of first degree murder after stunt gone wrong.”
One word – STUPID.
Say hello to my little fiends, no way and no how.
Agent Double Entendre…..
I’m ready for two of you…
Good for Rem. their rifle and pistol brass is the best to reload, can’t wait to see more in stores etc.
“I’ve got this covered.”
And that my friends, is the recipe for a disaster.
Any word on if the theater was a “gun free” zone? If so, there was no danger to the actors whatsoever 😉
Its hammer time.
Yes ma’am.
Control this!
Cannon to the right; cannon to the left; into the valley of death…
The sign that Bill Engvall would give each of the people who made this happen would have to be shown on IMAX.
wait, what was this about, some guy bimer?!
When this was in the brain storming planning stage,
how did this get by the “WTF, are you an idiot” filter?
Torrents… there we’re done!
So, I’m kinda taking issue (yet again, yes, I know) with this site and its penchant for overblown headlines that range from slightly exaggerated to completely untrue. I’ve now read a half dozen slightly different stories about this incident, and in exactly zero of them can I find any indication that anyone “burst into” anything whatsoever.
I am still unclear whether anyone dressed up and carrying a fake weapon walked into any of the actual rooms where a movie was showing as opposed to just being in the lobby of the theater, but the way the stories are written lead me to believe that as snipe4fun stated above, the actors were hanging around in the lobby, not “bursting into” anything or even really doing much more than standing around and looking cool.
If my understanding of the situation is correct, this is a completely overblown story, first in the media, and then TTAG takes it to another level with a headline that has no supporting evidence whatsoever. I think this story could have been much better used as an example of the fearfulness (borne from ignorance) of the populace, or the bias of the media, than as a (false) example of stupidity at work.
eh… upon further googling of this incident I think I have to agree…
So the theater was flash-mobbed by the Village People and everybody sh1t their pants? Totally retarded.
Yes, every thing is in order.
Red is on the right.
Blue is on the left.
But can’t you see how we come together in the middle.
I’m not sure what you were taught when you started out with firearms but I was strictly taught that if your finger is inside the trigger guard you are prepared to destroy what is on the other side of the pointed barrel. With that being said safety inside or outside the trigger guard is does not matter, if you are touching the trigger you are ready to fire. The other thing that I was taught was if you holster your weapon it is just as important to maintain your holster as well as your weapon. If you are apprehensive about the seating of any of the parts on your weapon inside the holster you should either fix it or replace the holster. And if it makes you more comfortable having an external slidelock safety on your Glock I know that they do make kits that you can install in about 3 minutes. Along with that Gaston Glock put safety first and there are 3 internal safeties that are also working at all times. You can chamber a round and throw it out of a plane and it will not discharge. And if you have issues about the safety features on Glock products there are other products out there that you can buy so stop complaining about something that you are not being forced to buy. Most accidental discharges are caused by people either being ignorant of the weapon they are handling or they are doing something that they know they should not be doing.
As a friend of one of the “actors”, i’m glad none of you trigger happy idiots were there. Your propensity to shoot first shows that you have no business being a CCW holder.
Granted things could have been handled a bit more gracefully (allowing them to use employee areas to dress and enter/exit the building), this has been completely overblown by Nick, local news, and reddit.
This is primarily a group of steampunk/zombie cos-players who were approached by theater management to create a fun environment for kids in THE LOBBY on the opening weekend of the movie. At no time did any of them enter a darkened theater in progress dressed as they were, and they were accompanied by a professional photographer (image at the top of the story taken by said photographer).
I heard there was this deleted storyline from “24” where Kim joined a militia…
you know i think i saw this movie last week on HBO after dark…….what she does with those heaters …ouch
or
Lady Gaga prepping for her next gig
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”
“Hey Mister! Have you seen my holsters?”
You frighten me a little.
The emergency exits are down front, so they’re pretty obvious without having to have your “head on a swivel,” and at least in the theaters around here (and I’m in Orlando, so there’s a lot of them) I can only think of one where the entrance to the room is behind me. That’s because it’s not stadium seating and so nobody really wants to go there anyway.
Every cinema ’round here save one has the entrances to the rear.
I find that a fair trade- off for living in a damned cool place.
Well will ya look at that, a picture of Take Aim Gun Range in Sarasota, my local gun range. I’ve been a member there for 2 years, great place, nice folks there.
Can’t see the iron sights? Why is this a big deal? Everytime I see videos of
AKs in battle, it doesn’t seem that anyone is using the sights…..
People still shoot revolvers?
If it would have been one of us mere “peons”, we’d be sent up the river for many years. It is well past time that these criminally negligent “Only Ones” pay the true price. Book ’em, Danno.
Captain Boob’Merica
We need to call and support her to keep her pro gun asap!
I don’t see the problem. The files were already out there. There was nothing to gain by “fightin tha powa”. He wasn’t ceding anything by taking them down, he was just avoiding a fight where he didn’t need one. How is that wussing out?
Don’t pull that in China, they won’t bother with the tires, Randy
I, myself, have seen a startling increase in the misspelling of the word, “lose.” Lose control, not “loose” control.
Dateline Sacramento:
Yee introduces bill to collect, control and regulate all the sharp and jagged rocks.
Does anyone still doubt this is happening? Here’s a couple of other incidents:
Read about the ATF raid and indictment of Phil Ciotti. Mr. Ciotti wasn’t charged with any crime until 21 months after his guns were seized:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130509/NEWS07/305100007/State-investigator-ex-ICE-agent-charged
Read about Kristopher Gasior’s visit by Homeland Security at this link:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/27/us-agencies-join-war-against-gun-owners/
I’m not planning on hunting with lead bullets. It’s my choice, but I’m willing to spend a bit more cash to ensure that the meat I’m eating isn’t contaminated, and to ensure that the environment is a little bit cleaner. It’s only one box or so a season.
Of course, ATF could fuck that up royally by banning copper or brass bullets, so fuck them in the ear.
If there was any more proof needed that this guy is completely out of touch with anything resembling reality, this should do it.
Dude…Where’s my clothes?
i trained on a 45 in boot and had been looking at buying one eventually, but their accuracy in the service weapons as well as barrel recoil reminded me of some of the other big calipers. When the 10mm came out it was touted to send the 45 into extinction (didn’t happen) I have been looking into the 20 with a compensated barrel. Granted because of my disability im not thinking of shooting anything near the max power loads. As my dad would say i dont need to shoot the deer behind the truck and the house and the tree, cause if i can’t see it, then i can’t shoot it. How good really is the compensated barrel ?? half kick? 3/4 kick? please let me know.
thanks
That’s the complaints department.
“You can’t say ‘this only happens in black neighborhoods or poor neighborhoods or to people out walking dark streets alone at night.’ This can happen anywhere.”
Pardon my French, but duh. Only an ignorant bigot would have thought those things in the first place. So the real question is, is she copping to be an ignorant bigot who thought these things, or accusing the whole country of being ignorant bigots? Who in their right mind didn’t know that mental illness and rampage are racially and socioeconomically color-blind?
And I’m not even going to comment on her agenda-revealing “Newtown is an opportunity” line.
What a bunch of screwing around to end up with a sub par DCM rifle. Plenty of rifles available better than a butchered SIG.