House minority leader trying to blame video games for mass shootings. Update: Walmart pulls violent video game ads for 2 weeks

[Pemalite]

VAMatt said:

Pemalite said:

Your entire argument is a logical fallacy... You are trying to undermine your opponents views by taking approaches not related to the topic at hand. (I.E. Claiming that users haven't visited/lived in the USA). - Not only do you not know that for sure (I have actually been to the USA.) but adds absolutely zero credibility to your arguments. If anything, does the complete opposite.

Those outside of the USA can form and base their perspectives on the empirical evidence that has been presented and thus make direct comparisons to other pieces of evidence that has been presented. - Evidence being the key word here. - Ignorance is what you are propagating by attempting to discard empirical evidence for your anecdotal evidence... And not the other way around, so stop pretending it is.

This is why some people believe the Earth to be flat, because they would rather opt for their Anecdotal evidence over empirical evidence.

At no point have I refuted any statistics in this thread.  I've simply claimed that many people here seem to lack the context necessary to understand what those numbers mean. In other words, your use of cherry picked stats to form a picture of life in the US is exactly the problem here.  

The context is why there is constructive discussion being had.

We are not cherry-picking statistics to form an idea of what life is like daily in the United States, we are using statistics to point out there is a damn big problem and peoples lives are being lost.

Azzanation said:

That is a flawed logic on your end. Taking drugs and buying a gun are two completely different things. How can you even say they are the same thing? 

Taking drugs and buying a gun are the same thing. You are buying a product.
How that product is generally used is what makes it nefarious.

Azzanation said:

Buying a gun is harmless, buying a car is harmless. Both can be used in a very dangerous manner and they have both killed people. Your comparison is like saying, buying a gun is no different to eating Rat poison. Umm.. yeah is it, Meth is bad, it harms your health, there is no bright side to taking meth. Having a gun is like owning a Sword or big Knife, it can be used for hobbies, people like to collect etc. Drugs? That's a face palm.

Buying drugs is harmless. Guns can be bad and can also harm your health.

And sometimes drugs can save lives. Just like a gun.

Sometimes drugs can be used for hobbies just like a gun. (Amyl/Poppers for example)

Azzanation said:

You are answering your own debate. Try taking drugs away from people, we have, how has that worked in the land of no drugs? Do people still take drugs? do people still die from drug use? Do drugs still get sold regardless of the law enforcement? You should know the answer to that.

So... Are you suggesting we should legalize all drugs and sell them in brick and mortar stores like guns?

Azzanation said:

Great, place more laws on gun control, I want them too and I understand people can still have guns with laws in place.. however my debate with you is that it wont make a difference because criminals and killers will still get the guns and still go on massacres. Do you actually think by adding more laws with guns that these things will suddenly stop? especially in a country with a massive black market scene? Why do we have a big death toll on the road? People have to go out and get a license, we enforce the road rules a lot, especially in Australia.. why are there still deaths? Nice having rules in place, feels more like government control than actual life saving. Same with guns. 

The evidence says it does make a difference. Australia.
Australia has solved gun massacres for the time being.

That needs to be recognized and emulated, it's saved lives.

Azzanation said:

Why do we have a big death toll on the road? People have to go out and get a license, we enforce the road rules a lot, especially in Australia.. why are there still deaths? Nice having rules in place, feels more like government control than actual life saving. Same with guns. 

The Road Toll will exist either way... And is being solved via other avenues, legislation/more laws often have a positive impact in reducing road tolls, not to mention various schemes like "Operation Distraction" that is currently underway in South Australia by Police, Ambulance, Metro Fire, Country Fire, State Emergency Services.

I do work in emergency services and I am a road crash technician, when it comes to car accidents and the road death toll in Australia, I am on the front line... In-fact my training in this manner is the exact same training received world-wide.

So yes, we do go out and get a license, yes road rules exist... But you can bet that they don't exist in a damn vacuum, they have a very real positive effect.... Statistically it is when people blatantly ignore the rules that a large portion of accidents do actually occur.
The last Road Crash I attended for example... A Taxi driver overtook a truck illegally and lost his life because of it, he should have known better.

So what could have been done to ensure it never happens on that stretch of road again? Maybe overtaking lanes or general infrastructure, better signage, better education and certainly better laws.

Azzanation said:

You know who else didn't want the public to have guns? Hitler. How did that go for Germany, oh that's right, the public was dictated and couldn't do a thing about it. They couldn't even defend themselves.

This is why you are wrong.
Gun legislation isn't the complete banning of guns.

Or are you suggesting that a highly advanced, stable, representational democracy is going to suddenly become a dictatorship because it implemented gun legislation?

Keep in mind that Australia was where the USA was on the gun topic decades ago, there was a ton of debate, the same arguments you have presented was the same arguments presented back then... And none of it has come to pass.

Last edited by Pemalite - on 10 August 2019