Sacramento County Sheriff To Monitor Security at Area Theaters After Colorado Shooting

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department will monitor whether or not to add security at area movie theaters following a tragic midnight shooting in Aurora, Colo. that left 12 people dead and at least 59 injured, sheriff's officials announced.

authorities will keep an extra eye on the city's movie theater, an official there said Friday. In the past, the Century theater at Greenback Lane and Interstate-80 has employed sheriff's deputies in an off-duty security capacity, as has Elk Grove, Dep. Jason Ramos said in an emailed statement.

"At this time, there are no plans (from an operation standpoint) to tailor our pro-active patrols toward theaters, in light of the tragic events in Colorado," Ramos wrote. "We are business as usual, unless the need presents itself to do otherwise."

James Holmes, a young gunman reportedly wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest, opened fire during a midnight showing of in Aurora.

Movie theaters, malls and school events—so-called soft targets because they are gathering locations with little security—can be vulnerable to domestic terror or deranged madmen.

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

Should metal detectors become as standard as popcorn machines at movie theaters? Should there be armed security or will an unarmed guard be enough to stop someone carrying a gun who wants to get in with or without a ticket? Will there be no more dress-up at the theater, which may have allowed the Aurora gunman to enter with a handgun, a rifle, a gas canister and a gas mask?

Ramos said Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies have patrolled theaters previously for certain types of films, including hip-hop movies and the religious film The Passion of the Christ but did not mention any summer blockbusters that typically have midnight showings.

The Colorado shooting has also brought into question gun control, with reports saying the shooter legally owned the guns he used.

What do you think in light of Aurora, the newest name in tragedy?