Jack Thompson Blames VA Shooting on Games

[stof]

BenKenobi88 said:

They ban breeds of dogs? I'm sorry, but that's just stupid...

I don't really like pitbulls, but seriously...if someone's going to have a crazy dog, the breed isn't really an issue...there's lots of crazy dog breeds out there.

As an Ontarian; the province pitbulls were banned in, I'll speak to that. It's actually a fairly complex issue, and has been the subject of much debate in several countries. infact, here's a list of countries, regions and cities that have banned certain breeds of pit bulls.

Place	Ban Status
Springville, Utah[2]	Active
Council Bluffs, Iowa[3]	Active: 2004
Royal City, Washington[4]	Active: 12 Jan, 2007
Denver, Colorado[5]	Active: Banned on 9 May, 2005 (first banned in 1980's)
Ontario, Canada[6]	Active: Banned on 15 October, 2004
Winnipeg, Canada[7]	Active: Banned in 1990
Prince George's County, Maryland[8]	Active: 1996
Shelbyville, California[9]	Proposed: 18 November, 2006
New York City, NY[10]	Proposed: 28 December 2006
Aurora, Colorado[11]	Proposed: 27 September, 2005
Oklahoma[12]	Proposed 21 June, 2005
Youngstown, Ohio[13]	Proposed: 10 January, 1999
Bronx, NY[citation needed]	Active: Banned on 17 January, 2007
Richland, Washington[4]	Proposed: 21 December, 2006
Tupelo, Mississippi[14]	Proposed: 28 September, 2006
Harlem, NY[citation needed]	Active: Banned on 11 January, 2007
Parker, Colorado[15]	Proposed: 17 January, 2006
Queens, NY[citation needed]	Active: Banned on 8 December, 2005
Chicago, Illinois[16]	Proposed: 17 November, 2005
Yonkers, NY	Active: Banned on 3 November, 2006
France[17]	Active: April 30, 1999; Ownership restricted; non-pure-breed animals resembling pit-bulls are to be surgically neutered
Norway	Most Pit Bull variants are illegal since ca. 1980, dogs older than that were allowed to stay with their owners until a natural death.
United Kingdom[18]	Active: 12 August, 1991 (Banned in public places, under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991)

In Ontario, It became a pretty major issue after a string of Pitbull attacks in the province, including at least one child killed. That's what put it in the public sphere. As for the actual rational behind it, there's differing views. Some studies have shown pit bulls are dramatically more likely to bite than other breeds. Certain bans have had some success in lowering dog attacks. Some, like Winnipeg, have not.

Part of the reasoning behind it comes from the fact that pit bulls have been bred over the years specifically for aggression. Yes, a dog is more likely to be violent if it has a crappy owner. But evidence suggests that the effect is multiplied when it's a pit bull. Of course there's also evidence to suggest thats hogwash. It's still pretty early in the pitbull scientific debate realm.

I'm not sure where I fall on the argument. Mostly just because there isn't a scientific concensus on the dog's likely hood of attacks, and because it's too early to tell just how well, if at all, these bans work in the long term.