Post by pavel on Apr 28, 2016 11:47:24 GMT -6
'Thank you ... for not saving our children': Louisiana lawmaker riled after movie theater security measure killed
Legislation that was inspired by a deadly shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette set off a spat between two House members on Wednesday after the bill was abruptly killed.
State Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, had proposed a bill that would require movie theaters in Louisiana install metal detectors and screen customers for weapons. She opened her pitch for House Bill 101 in the House Criminal Justice Committee with a video of a CBS News report on the July 23, 2015, shooting at The Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette that left two people dead and nine injured. The gunman, John Russell Houser, killed himself after the attack.
“It’s about saving lives,” Norton said of her legislation that would create criminal penalties for theater operators in violation. “I know none of us want to think about dropping our children or grandchildren off at the movies and when we come back their lives have been taken.”
Norton showed photos she had taken at a movie theater during a recent trip to Washington state — one of a sign that noted that patrons would be searched for weapons and another of a theater employee searching through Norton’s large purse.
Read more: theadvocate.com/news/15617876-123/legislation-inspired-by-lafayette-theater-shooting-sparks-spat-between-louisiana-lawmakers
Legislation that was inspired by a deadly shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette set off a spat between two House members on Wednesday after the bill was abruptly killed.
State Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, had proposed a bill that would require movie theaters in Louisiana install metal detectors and screen customers for weapons. She opened her pitch for House Bill 101 in the House Criminal Justice Committee with a video of a CBS News report on the July 23, 2015, shooting at The Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette that left two people dead and nine injured. The gunman, John Russell Houser, killed himself after the attack.
“It’s about saving lives,” Norton said of her legislation that would create criminal penalties for theater operators in violation. “I know none of us want to think about dropping our children or grandchildren off at the movies and when we come back their lives have been taken.”
Norton showed photos she had taken at a movie theater during a recent trip to Washington state — one of a sign that noted that patrons would be searched for weapons and another of a theater employee searching through Norton’s large purse.
Read more: theadvocate.com/news/15617876-123/legislation-inspired-by-lafayette-theater-shooting-sparks-spat-between-louisiana-lawmakers