Should movie theaters increase security?
NEW YORK -- There are roughly 6,000 movie theaters in the U.S. Security consultant Tom Deluca's company, Global Security Services, has 500 armed guards in 175 of them, and says being visible is key.
"No undercover," Deluca says. "We want to be seen we want to be deterrent through visibility, yes."
Following the recent attacks in Tennessee and Louisiana, his company has been fielding two to three calls a day from concerned theater owners.
New York State Senator Tony Avella says metal detectors are the answer. He is proposing for legislation that would require them in theaters.
"I think that it would cut down on anybody getting in to, whether it is a movie theater or a shopping mall, undetected," Avella says.
Magnometers are already used at many major sporting events and concerts, but fewer than one percent of movie theaters have them.
Metal detectors can cost up to $5,000 each and operator costs could add up to a $1 million annually -- at a time when most movie theaters survive on narrow profit margins.
Deluca says it's unlikely smaller theaters would be willing to spend that kind of money.
"My opinion, they probably won't," Deluca says. "I think they'll take the risk that it won't happen to them."
The National Association of Theater Owners has not endorsed the use of magnometers. Instead, it urged members to make sure emergency plans were up to date and that emergency exits -- like the one Colorado theater shooter James Holmes entered through -- are properly secured.
The largest theater chains have also banned costumes, face masks and toy weapons.
But if security measures are expensive for theaters, so are these shootings. Cinemark, the owner of the Aurora theater where 12 people died and 70 were hurt, is being sued by 40 victims or family members of victims.