Violent video games to blame for massacre?

The recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut has seen a wave of attention hit the shores of the video gaming industry. This attention has been derived from the fact that the alleged killer, Adam Lanza, was known to have played violent video games such as Call of Duty. This has led to widespread criticism of the gaming industry from the public as well as the 'higher ups' such as senator Rockefeller and the National Rifle Association (NRA).

MWEB GameZone takes a look

[DesVader]

Geez, Call of Duty strikes again. I don't think video games can be blamed for violence, I think people who do this sort of thing have a predisposition for violence already and many other factors are already at play. Still, its a warning for parents to respect the age restriction on video games.

[pixelsword]

Unless he glitched and naded someone from across the state, I don't think CoD was the influence.

[Choc_Salties]

I'm tired of people blaming video games. I will at most concede people might learn some ideas for how things work, but at the end of the day, that decision to pull the trigger in RL is up to the perp

[pixelsword]

Yes. Video Games caused all of the violence.

Teens are perfect and do no wrong.

(rolls eyes)

[deep_fried_bum_cake]

Whoa! Hold up.

The guy was 20. So it has to have been the games.

/s

[pixelsword]

LOL

So... it IS their fault!

*Knocks down insomniac games with The Sonic Eruptor*

[NegativeCreep427]

then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

If a drunk driver runs down a group of kids crossing the street, the car should be held accountable for their deaths and not the drunk driver...

If an idiot burns a house down, the match that the idiot lite should be held legally accountable than the drunk idiot himself...right???

Right???

Be logically-equal.

[Ogygian]

Not the point really.

Lets accept that we have maniacs in society.

Undoubtedly it's not actually the gun's fault if they go on a killing spree, but that approach really misses the point.
Restricting gun sales protects us from ourselves - if these maniacs go on a killing spree without guns then there will be far less, perhaps no casualties (as it becomes difficult).

So lets think of guns as a catalyst rather than a source of gun crime.

What is the source? The world has always had people who didn't quite fit in with society, and Lanza probably felt isolated and went mad as a result.
If we are unable to attack the source then we must go for the catalyst instead. In this case, that means attacking gun sales.

As for the drunk driver analogy, it can be refuted by assuming that:

-There is a clear cause for the driver's behaviour (drunkenness) and thus we CAN attack the source
-We know that the car is the catalyst for alcohol-related violence, so would cut back on that too except that we can't ban cars as they are actually useful in civilian society(unlike guns, which are essentially an insurance policy against other gun owners).

It really is a case of cost-benefit here, and the benefit of owning guns is minimal (what do they actually DO other than harming people or allow you to improve your accuracy/ability to harm people?). Alcohol of course is the source of much enjoyment, and without cars, modern life would be impossible outside of major cities.

Logic therefore dictates an attack on the catalyst: guns!

[NeXXXuS]

Exactly. People kill people. Inanimate objects and video games don't do that... Silly media.

[TukkerIntensity]

I heard he also liked to eat tacos. I blame tacos.

[Dan50]

He also breathed oxygen, drank water and ate food.......BAN ALL OF THAT STUFF ALSO!!!!!

[GreenRanger]

Adam Lanza turned violent over playing games.
He was perfectly normal before he played games.
Oh wait...
http://www.examiner.com/art...

[ChrisW]

Wow, GreenRanger! The National Enquirer? Excellent source!!!

'The Mail, citing The National Enquirer, notes that Trevor L. Todd told the tabloid that Lanza’s satanic webpage “gave him the chills.”'

[GreenRanger]

Are you being sarcastic?
I read it in a newspaper and i looked around online to find something to link to.

[ChrisW]

Sorry... I do commend you for taking the time to look it up. Many do not. But for validity and general purposes' sake, it's best to check the sources.

[pixelsword]

@ GreenRanger_

0_o

Whoa...

Case.

Closed.

:)

[MeatAbstract]

This will be a never ending cycle and who is to blame? I'm pointing at you, media.

Did you know there was another in Pennsylvania a few days back? You see, you give this mass murdering twat mass coverage over his crimes and this causes some other unhinged loner to do the same because he knows he'll get the same reaction.

So the news and papers focus on the killer. Always the killer. His weapons. His clothing. "Oohhh he didn't have a facebook page - what a weird loner he was" and this can easily give some very disturbed people the push they need.

It's interesting to see half these media outlets point the finger at video computer games/films/music - just wait til the next Call of Duty or the one or the next big name titles they'd review comes along. They rave about it. The Sun - a paper here in Britain, even added Black Ops in their headline regarding the shooting. But not long ago, they called BLOPS2 one of the best shooters out there and they'll do the same with MW4.

It's idiotic and stupid and they can point the finger at anyone they want - they will always shoulder more of the blame than anyone else because they almost glorify these actions to people and give it too much focus and attention.

[dirthurts]

Of course it's the games.
Everyone goes out and murders people after playing video games. :/

[NeXXXuS]

The only thing that should be killed during playing video games is time.

[Ogygian]

I really don't see the debate here.

-USA has violent video games
-UK has violent video games

-USA has relaxed gun laws
-UK has strict gun laws

Murder rate is almost three times higher in USA

Conclusion: Violent video games are not responsible for American massacres. Guns are.

Honestly, surely a world where only the military have guns would be better? If nobody else has a gun, then you don't need one to defend yourself.
In the UK our main cause of homicide is knife crime, but I know that personally I'd rather be one on one with a guy with a knife than someone with a gun.
Also, knives being the most dangerous readily available weapon practically eliminates the potential for massacres such as Sandy Hook.

[BrianC6234]

When will people stop blaming guns and videogames and look at the real problem? Crazy people aren't getting locked up and given the help they need. Every killer has been crazy or at least not all there. So start fixing the real problem and stop looking for something to blame.

[urwifeminder]

More will die its not the wild west anymore america maybe re write your constitution,or put nuclear submarines in schools and f-16 above the playground yeah haw.

[VonBraunschweigg]

Yeah well Santa just put millions in guns, ammo & videogames under our trees so to hell with it, Merry Christmas everybody!

[ShadowKingx]

These stupid authors of these topics just need to shut up, I’m a sick and tired of coming on N4G and seeing games blamed for shootings when games are clearly not the problem. What needs to happen is someone needs to shoot these stupid authors who has nothing better to write about maybe authors are to blame to for shootings. Because i read the pointless articles and want to shoot myself because i just wasted time i cannot get back. Stupid authors no wonder you are on here writing crappy articles instead of working for a paper or news company.

(Trust me i am being nice by using stupid, although i wanted to use other hurtful words)

[Quiescent]

yes yes they are because games turn you into a maniac like how i stubbed my toe and took my anger on the dog. geez Media is why people are turning into lunatics from reading stupid crap stories they put up for the world to see

[V0LT]

I'll say it until my head explodes..... There were shootings WELL before video games.

[JasonKCK]

there r many mass murders every year. there r 250+ million gamers. the chances that a killer or 2 happens 2 play games is bound 2 happen. there is a higher chance that a killer likes the color blue or red. r we going 2 start blaming colors now? blame movies games music god bullies candy babies as long as we ignore the gun issue. no one knows why he did it but him. the people using this 4 gain r the true evil in this world.