Colorado man arrested for bringing gun to theater

Police arrested a man Sunday night after he carried a firearm into a a Thorton, Colorado theater nine days after the Aurora shootings, Kieran Nicholson of the Denver Post reports.

James Mapes, 48, believes that he was merely exercising his constitutional right to bear arms when he was arrested. “I’ve had no problems in the past. I’ve never had police take my gun from me in the nine years I’ve had the permit,” Mapes said.

Mapes recalled that he heard a woman near him call the police and report that there was a man carrying a gun in the theater. Police proceeded to evacuate the theater and detain Mapes. Upon being detained, he was disarmed, handcuffed, and arrested. Mapes has since been released after being cited and given a summons.

Police arrested Mapes for violating municipal ordinace 38-237 which states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly possess on or about the person or within such person’s immediate reach any dangerous weapon.” However, Colorado is an open-carry state, and its laws supersede those of Thornton. Mapes stated in a Monday interview that he had received a concealed-carry permit in 2003 from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado.

In a police photo, Mapes appears wearing a dark shirt that reads “Liberalism,” but the bottom of the shirt is cut off in the photo.  The shirt bears a resemblance to a Zazzle t-shirt that reads “Liberalism is a mental disorder.” In an interview with Denver Westword, Mapes says his choice of shirt was not politically motivated. He goes on to say that he did not set out to be arrested, so his attire was unintentional.

In March, Mapes wrote a response to an editorial in the Denver Post that criticized the Colorado Supreme Court for overturning the University of Colorado at Boulder’s ban on students carrying concealed weapons on campus. He wrote at the time, “Just one concealed-weapon holder in a classroom where a random criminal attempts to shoot the occupants could and would reduce the casualties, as they would either take out the offender or at least distract them while others managed to get distance from the shooter.”

On July 20, James Holmes allegedly shot and killed twelve people at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora. Holmes was the only armed person in the theater, which had a gun-free policy.

The night of those attacks, Mapes was attending the Batman movie’s premiere just 17 miles away in Thornton. He was carrying his gun then, as well.

Unlike the Aurora theater, the Thornton location does not have a gun-free policy.

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Man arrested after gun brought into theater

THORNTON, Colo. (AP) — A man was arrested and nine theaters were evacuated after someone carried a gun into a multiplex in Colorado, police said.

James Mapes, 48, of Northglenn was taken into custody Sunday after patrons reported he was carrying a handgun strapped to his waist. He was released after being cited and given a summons.

Mapes told the Denver Post (http://bit.ly/MWwHHA) he has a concealed weapons permit issued by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office in 2003. He said he has lived in the area for nine years and gone to movies at the Cinebarre theater dozens of times carrying a pistol openly and concealed.

"I was a threat to no one, I didn't threaten anybody," Mapes said.

Mapes was issued a citation for displaying a weapon and alarming another person after about 40 people were evacuated, Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said Monday.

"We had people fleeing the theatres, with people yelling there was a man with a gun," Barnes said.

Theaters across the country have been jittery after 12 people were killed and 58 others were wounded or injured at an Aurora movie theater on July 20 during a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

Colorado prosecutors filed formal charges Monday against James Holmes, a former neuroscience student accused in the theater attack.

Prosecutors were reviewing the case involving Mapes and the charges might be dropped if they determine he was complying with Colorado's concealed carry law that allows people who pass background checks and get training to carry guns in most circumstances, Barnes said.

Mapes told the newspaper he was in a darkened theater for about 15 minutes viewing "The Watch," when the lights came on and the show stopped. He said a woman sitting nearby took a cellphone call then said aloud that someone in the movie complex was seen carrying a gun.

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