James G. Mapes Allegedly Brought Gun Into Movie Theater Near Aurora

Man Allegedly Brought Gun Into Movie Theater Near Aurora

A man was arrested after cops say he walked into a movie theater near Aurora, Colo. with a gun on his waist.

The Denver Post reports that James G. Mapes was arrested at a Thornton, Colo. movie theater for wearing a holstered weapon on Sunday night. Thornton is 25 minutes from Aurora, Colo., where James Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."

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

Mapes said he has a concealed-weapon permit. He was arrested after someone told police Mapes had a handgun in the movie theater.

"We are an open-carry state," Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said. "We look at the open-carry law and how it relates to this incident. He felt he was exercising his right to bear arms in an open-carry state, and we are currently reviewing that with our prosecutors."

KOA reported Mapes was wearing a shirt that said "Liberalism leads to terrorism." When asked about the shirt, Mapes said he put it on earlier in the day and "didn't think about how it would connect to the gun," according to the station.

Mapes' arrest comes on the heels of WSMV's story about three people who allegedly brought guns into a movie theater Friday night during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Cookville, Tenn.

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