By now we all have all the info we can possibly cramp into our tiny brains on the shooter in Naval Yard…..we know he is a batshit crazy, he had numerous gun arrests, he was a delivery guy for a Thai joint and he had a secret clearance….and oh yeah…he played a lot of video games especially those that involved shooting and killing….to the point that he was obsessed with them…..have I covered about everything?
Once again the media and pundits are calling for a national dialog on this situation and others like it……everybody has someone to blame…..for some it is the guns, others it is the lax background checks and others it is the mental health issue and the one that so many are flocking to is the violence and killing in the games were play….this is the one I hear more and more…..games like Hitman or Grand Theft Auto or HALO or well about a million other such games…….
There seems to be more and more emphasis placed on the fact that these games are of a violent nature…..and being so aids the person in his/her delusions and violence……as if the people playing these games would want to act out the scenario found within the game……so it is not the laws fault, it is not the availability of guns but rather the game itself becomes a scenario that somehow must be played out…..
To that whole scenario I say….TOTAL BULLSHIT!
If I am not mistaken these violent games are not limited to the US…..one can play them and have access to them in most countries in the world……but yet it is only in America that the players go batcrap crazy……
Here is the fact…..the only thing that we have that most civilized countries do not have is….unlimited access to weapons of all shapes and sizes…..they all have obsessed gamers….they all have mental illness……what they do not have is….UNLIMITED ACCESS TO GUNS!
So please stop blaming the games …..put the blame where it belongs….ACCESS! That is the Only constant! and because of massive denial by so many it is a cycle that cannot be broken…..and in a month or two it will happen again….and then again…..and then…..
I sincerely wish I could say that we will find a way to end these cycles of violence–I really do—–but the truth is we will NOT! For the almighty dollar is far more important than a few innocent lives. We can fake empathy or sympathy but in the end the truth is that collectively….we just do not care!
Learn to live with it or find away around COWARDS!
Twelve more people, not counting the shooter himself, have sacrificed their lives so the NRA and its supporters can have the firepower they feel the 2nd amendment affords them. Another mentally ill individual goes undetected by our system well past the time he should be allowed to purchase a gun and the inevitable results are once again played out in America.
If it’s broke, don’t fix it. Bubba may have to forego his purchase of his 3rd assault rifle or 14th magazine loaded pistol. Lord knows the tyrants of freedom are just around the corner waiting to deprive us of our ability to consume massive quantities of shit.
Larry, as you may have guessed….I am truly disgusted with this whole debate….NO one wants to solve a problem….but that should not surprise me….
To that whole scenario I say….TOTAL BULLSHIT!
False. Sorry, this is false.
To that whole scenario I say….
TOTAL BULLSHIT!mostly bullshit!Studies have shown – repeatedly – that EXCESSIVE consumption of violent video games
correlatedcauses children to be more violent (at least in the short term).To be clear, we’re talking about kids playing 4+ hours a day. But from what little I know of this guy, that might be a plausible number. And if he was playing with a few cards short of a full deck, it’s not unreasonable to assume that he’d be vulnerable to this effect.
Now, that said, I do not – ABSOLUTELY NO WAY, NO HOW – I do not support efforts to ban, block, prohibit, restrict video games. Because even though they do have this effect, so does violent TV, violent play, violent movies, and even violent books (I’m looking at you Hunger Games!). The answer, as all of us liberals know, is not to cut off the games that are harmless in 99.999% of cases, but to remove the tools by which a crazy person can act out a crazy fantasy.
Alas, Red Shirts love their guns too much and need to point out some other culprit – anything – so long as it’s not their precciooussssssssss.
Mathius, I agree with the violent content points…but what I was pointing out is that they are available worldwide and yet we have the most situations….so I believe that access is more the culprit…
If I am not mistaken these violent games are not limited to the US…..one can play them and have access to them in most countries in the world……but yet it is only in America that the players go batcrap crazy……
Consumption of video games (violent or otherwise) is substantially higher in Japan and Korea. Much, much higher.
Yet their incidence of mass shootings is much, much lower.
……
Now, that sounds great, but that doesn’t really mean much because it doesn’t say that they aren’t having mass stabbings or mass whatevers. For example, the Japanese gun laws are so stringent that the Yakuza (the infamously violent Japanese mafia) use Katanas instead of firearms.
I assume Japan and Korea roughly equal to us all told.
And the reason for that is simple: people are evil and/or crazy all over the world in roughly the same proportions.
The only real difference is how they are able to act out their evil and/or insanity and how much damage they can cause when they do.
oops sorry…did not read all your comments sorry…
the only thing that we have that most civilized countries do not have is….unlimited access to weapons of all shapes and sizes
We have limits.. just weak ones.
You can’t buy, for example, a full-auto.
You can’t buy a mortar.
You can’t buy if you’re a felon.
You can’t buy if you’re on a watch-list.
There are waiting periods.
There are licences.
I agree (in general) with your point here. I do.. but if you want to be taken seriously in your commentary, you have to admit points where due. There are, in this country, some limits on access and types and sizes of weapons. What you say here is false and does a disservice to your point.
Actually you can buy mortars, etc….full auto is not a problem can easily be fixed with a paper clip…….sorry but I disagree with you….I still maintain that access is the culprit…..games may be a contributor……and definitely mental illness is….I guess we could make the case that if you play m4+ hours daily that there could be a beginning of a mental illness….
Hey Chuq!
I hope you’re doing well.
Not to be facetious or anything, but just the other day you were talking (writing) in defense of the Constitution … in it’s entirety, and that people shouldn’t be able to pick and choose what they want to defend about it based on what parts they don’t like …
Now one thing that makes me ill is how liberals, based only on emotions not only push gun-control only on the law-abiding citizens but they stand upon the dead bodies of the victims to actually raise money for their cause. THAT my friend is disgusting. Exploiting grief and sorrow for an agenda is a low that only Obama and company can expertly apply.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358939/ofa-uses-navy-yard-shooting-fundraise-andrew-johnson
C&H I am doing fine…some days are better than others……I agree with you but we cannot just limit the pick and choose to liberals….conservs play at it also……..on the gun rights thing I wrote 2 separate posts on the latest shootings……this country does not want to end these cycles of violence….I mean all of us…..we pass out a little sympathy then move on to the next situation we want to debate…..I am sure that what you say is true…..and I am sure that 9/11 was used also….it is the game these worthless, gutless pricks play…..
Amen brother and I believe you’re right. I think IF the background checks are performed properly and the warning signs such as the nut-job at the Naval Yard put forth are acted on we would reduce gun violence immensely.
Did you see the same company that did the shooter’s background check also did Snowden’s….I think that privatization is the problem….