CT senator says games influenced Sandy Hook shooter and CA Senator says "Gamers need to Quiet Down"

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bonkers555 said:

BasilZero said:

bonkers555 said:

I'm saying young people are easily brainwashed and influenced.

Which is why they need to be disciplined and taught by their parents the difference between Reality and Fantasy.

And I agree with that being a father of three young children. But we can't just ignore that some how these shooters have the one thing in common which is violent Video Games.

Sales of MW 3 in the USA = about 15-20 million (depending on PC). Number of consoles with violent games available being actively used in the USA > 100 million.

Chances that there are some (i.e. more than 1) nut cases who are prone to a mass shooting rampage among those MW3 players and / or the total console ownership population: almost 100%

What you have is the cart before the horse. Lots of people of violent temperament like playing violent video games. That does not mean video games made them violent or increased their likelihood of going out and shooting people.

Also by focussing on video games you don't really ask the big question about what really caused these people to go nutso and go on a mass shooting spree.

Thet's consider some possible scenarios:

• I love my family and I have great friends, and I play violent video games.
• I hate the world, everyone is mean to me and girls always laugh at me when I ask them out. I play video games to escape my shitty life. I imagine all the girls are the enemy and shoot and stab them on a daily basis.
• My parents beat me and tell me I'm a loser. I play video games to escape my shitty life, and imagine my mum and dad as the enemy who I shoot and stab on a daily basis.
• My father used to come into my room at night and F#@k me in the a#$3 when I was 6 years old, my mother always knew about it but never did anything about it. I play video games to escape my shitty life and imagine my mother and father as the enemy who I shoot and stab on a daily basis.
• I've been bullied all my life, one day I'll get all those bastard bullies back. I play video games to escape my shitty life and imagine all those bullies are the enemy who I shoot and stab on a daily basis.

All of those scenarios include the playing of violent video games. But is video games really likely to be the cause, or the main cause, or even a significant cause of any mass shooting? Is the first possible scenario really likely to lead to a mass shooting?

It is actually the state of mind and the psychological condition of the person independant of video games that is the main (even sole) factor in whether a mass shooting is likely to happen (and access to guns of course).

What we do know: people often need something to prime their emotions before they go out and shoot a bunch of people. It's possible violent video games could be used as that primer. But the person has decided they want to go out and shoot people before they slip that disc into the machine, all they need from the video game is a bit of an adrenaline burst and then they're good to go.

The NRA are being hypocrits if they are blaming video games. If they are correct in their assertion that "guns don't people, people kill people" then the same is true of video games.

However I totally support robust research into the influence of vidoe games on violent behaviour because I'm confident of 3 outcomes and I would like to see them scientifically validated:

1. Violence in video games is not causationally connected to violent behaviour.
2. Video games of any sort (even the G-rated ones) can lead to anger, frustration, foul language and lashing out at the time the games are being played when a difficult part of the game is encountered and the player constantly fails to get past that part of the game. But the feelings subside soon after the person stops playing or when they finally succeeed in the difficult part (which leads to an immense feeling of accomplishment). 
3. Video games reward persistence and determination, which are beneficial to life. If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again.

The reason I think young kids should not be exposed to violence in video games (or TV or movies) is because it can upset them and freak them out and give them nightmares. I don't think, in a loving and stable home, that kids being exposed to fictional violence increases the chances they'll grow upt to be mass murderers or violent criminals.

It's the home environment and a person's relationship to their family and those in their immediate social surroundings that is by far the biggest determinant of whether they will end up going on a shooting spree. I think the causational influence of video games is negligible. I makes no rational sense to place blame on video games.

It also makes no rational sense to blame guns for people deciding to go on shooting rampages. Gun control advocates are not suggesting gun control will stop people from becomming crazy mass murderers. What gun control advocates are trying to achieve is limit the type (and number) of guns these crazies can get their hands on so as to limit the damage they do when they go on their rampage. I'm a gun copntrol advocate for that very reason. Reduce access to guns that can shoot at a high rate and you limit the damage these nutcases can do. But that argument is for another thread.