Poll of the Day > Republicans blame video games for recent and future gun violence in the US

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/04/el-paso-dayton-mass-shootings-kevin-mccarthy-says-video-games-partly-blame/1915061001/

"The idea that these video games that dehumanize individuals to have a game of shooting individuals," continued McCarthy, "I've always felt that it's a problem for future generations and others. We've watched studies show what it does to individuals, and you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games and others.

Here we go again
---

But not TV, books, movies, or "teh rap muzic"
---

Cowards.
---

What is this 1994

---

Let's go all in on "distraction bingo":

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/dayton-shooting-due-family-breakdown-gay-marriage-video-games-state-lawmaker-says/jf8XNJPSfKFl13yggzTFgM/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p10/DaytonDailyNews/2019/08/04/Images/keller.jpg

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on the breakdown of the traditional family, gay marriage, violent video games, professional athletes who protest the American flag, recreational marijuana and snowflakes, who cant accept a duly-elected President.

---

RCtheWSBC posted...

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on [...] snowflakes

Here we go, blaming winter for mass shootings in August.
---

adjl posted...

RCtheWSBC posted...

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on [...] snowflakes

Here we go, blaming winter for mass shootings in August.

That's... ironically extremely accurate
---

why, why must my vote be surrounded by idiots on all sides.

Doom and Mortal Kombat keep putting out new games all these years later and we still have unprecedented violence. Coincidence, I think not.

Not this BS again...what is it, 1990s/Mortal Combat all over again?

Boomers in a nutshell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dnL6PmJ19M" data-time="
---

Yup, it's not the the hate-mongering president.
---

SunWuKung420 posted...

Yup, it's not the the hate-mongering president.

everyone wants to blame something. video games aren't the problem but trumps racist rhetoric and white supremacy is fueling this shit.
---

Fanning maybe but the fuel is in our hearts.

---

Mead posted...

Im not blaming video games, but something about this argument doesnt make sense to me. If video games were the cause, wouldnt it still be possible for the numbers to be like this? It would just point to some non-linear relationship.

---

jramirez23 posted...

Im not blaming video games, but

Let me stop you there

---

there's a direct correlation with the usage of memes in a region, and violence.

Not causal, just realllly weird
---

PsychoWolfX posted...

As usual, nothing is going to happen. Politicians will blow hot air, people will protest, the media will have a field day and in a month or so it'll all be forgotten until the next wacko decides to mow down a bunch of innocents.

Qft, this is why gamers shouldn't really be concerned.
It's sad but true.
---

Gaawa_chan posted...

Cowards.

---

As long as violence is used as a tool, tools of violence will be used.
---

jramirez23 posted...

Im not blaming video games, but something about this argument doesnt make sense to me. If video games were the cause, wouldnt it still be possible for the numbers to be like this? It would just point to some non-linear relationship.

If video games were the cause, as the lawmakers are suggesting, the relationship would almost certainly be linear.

Like let's say, just for argument's sake, that 0.1% of all gamers will suddenly be turned into a spontaneous mass murderer. What we should see is that the number of mass murders in a country should be roughly correlated with the revenue from video games in a country, assuming buying habits are approximately the same.

The politicians who blame mass shootings on video games seem to not realize that the internet and/or other countries exist. If games really were the cause, every other country that plays them (i.e. every other country except for autocratic dictatorships with heavy censorship regimes) should see the same effects. Yet they don't - not even close. The US and the US alone accounts for an overwhelming majority of these mass casualty events.

Most countries won't break double digits for mass shootings in a year; the US easily surpasses that in a month.
---

RCtheWSBC posted...

Let's go all in on "distraction bingo":

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/dayton-shooting-due-family-breakdown-gay-marriage-video-games-state-lawmaker-says/jf8XNJPSfKFl13yggzTFgM/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p10/DaytonDailyNews/2019/08/04/Images/keller.jpg

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on the breakdown of the traditional family, gay marriage, violent video games, professional athletes who protest the American flag, recreational marijuana and snowflakes, who cant accept a duly-elected President.

Fuck yeah! She didn't blame mental illness!

fuckin fortnite
---

jramirez23 posted...

Im not blaming video games, but something about this argument doesnt make sense to me. If video games were the cause, wouldnt it still be possible for the numbers to be like this? It would just point to some non-linear relationship.

No, it would just mean that AT MOST 155 deaths could be attributed to video games, under the wild assumption that literally every gun homicide in the UK was caused by violent video games.
---

Idiots!
---

Just doing what their donors at the NRA told them to say.
---

While the Republicans are doing it this time, it's important to recognize that politicians in general use video games as a scapegoat and not to turn it into a bipartisan issue. The world health organization labeled playing video games often a metal illness.
---

TigerTycoon posted...

The world health organization labeled playing video games often a metal illness.

I was with you up to this part. This is false. While it is true that the WHO has included video game addiction among its list of recognized disorders, it is not defined as "playing video games often".

The first part of your post is a good point, though
---

Hell yeeeaaahhhhh
---

PyroBlade1985 posted...

Yeah I think Hillary Clinton was on the "blame video games" bandwagon for awhile too.

And it was just as moronic when she or any other liberal said it

its a bipartisanly stupid viewpoint

---

RCtheWSBC posted...

Let's go all in on "distraction bingo":

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/dayton-shooting-due-family-breakdown-gay-marriage-video-games-state-lawmaker-says/jf8XNJPSfKFl13yggzTFgM/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p10/DaytonDailyNews/2019/08/04/Images/keller.jpg

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on the breakdown of the traditional family, gay marriage, violent video games, professional athletes who protest the American flag, recreational marijuana and snowflakes, who cant accept a duly-elected President.

That woman is a state representative? Jesus.
---

i hope the big government takes my video games away and then i'll be more productive
---

I find it amazing how they never blame the piece of shit shooter.
---

Lil_Bit83 posted...

I find it amazing how they never blame the piece of shit shooter.

yeah because people don't live in a vacuum
---

Lil_Bit83 posted...

I find it amazing how they never blame the piece of shit shooter.

Or the fact that there are so many guns in the country that literally anyone can get their hands on one and the manufacturers are making more to sell like theres no tomorrow

---

gguirao posted...

Idiots!

---

TigerTycoon posted...

While the Republicans are doing it this time, it's important to recognize that politicians in general use video games as a scapegoat and not to turn it into a bipartisan issue.

Turn it into a "partisan issue", you mean.

And I hate to break it to you, but it absolutely is a partisan issue these days. Yes, the Democrats talked like this about the "corrupting influence" of video games (and heavy metal and rap music and violent movies) - that was about 30-40 years ago. Maybe some of them still do it, I don't know, but by and large - and certainly at the national level - video games being responsible for mass shootings is now a Republican talking point, because it's a convenient scapegoat to let them avoid talking about the role that widespread, largely unfettered access to firearms plays in the epidemic of gun violence in the US.

TigerTycoon posted...

The world health organization labeled playing video games often a metal illness.

No, the WHO labelled video game addiction as a mental illness, which is not the same thing as "playing video games often" any more than "going to a casino often" is the same thing as "addictive gambling".

And yes, compulsive video game playing is absolutely a mental illness and you can read hundreds of testimonials online from people who suffer from it. Whether that's people who paid away thousands of dollars in money that was supposed to go towards rent or groceries on lootboxes in FIFA, or people playing online games in their rooms or in cyber cafes until they literally collapse and die from exhaustion, this is not psychologically normal behaviour.

99% of the population can play video games just fine without experiencing a problem, much like similar numbers of the population can collect things without becoming a hoarder - the problem is with those people who can't due to an underlying mental issue.

RCtheWSBC posted...

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on the breakdown of the traditional family, gay marriage, violent video games, professional athletes who protest the American flag, recreational marijuana and snowflakes, who cant accept a duly-elected President.

She strangely doesn't mention anything about the president himself, or her own party, despite the fact that the asshole in El Paso wrote in the screed he posted online that his attempts were to try and prevent Democrats from being elected and to deal with a "Hispanic invasion".
---

Is the govt still using the shooter game Americas Army as a recruiting tool?

RCtheWSBC posted...

Let's go all in on "distraction bingo"

NRA to GOP: "We need a scapegoat... violent video games and the internet, that's the rub! Those morons in Trump's base will eat that shit up!"

Candice Keller sounds like she came out of a time machine from the late 80's and is about to start recommending we ship all HIV positive immigrants to Guantanamo Bay and have them forcibly sterilized.

Well, people like her never really go away. William Barr is in the Trump Administration, after all.

darkknight109 posted...

And I hate to break it to you, but it absolutely is a partisan issue these days. Yes, the Democrats talked like this about the "corrupting influence" of video games (and heavy metal and rap music and violent movies) - that was about 30-40 years ago. Maybe some of them still do it, I don't know

Some of the old guard "New Democrats" like Hillary Clinton are still not especially video game friendly, but the ones that aren't have learned to keep their stupidity to themselves for the most part. During the 2016 general, I had multiple discussions with people on this very board of this very site trying to convince them that Hillary Clinton was not going to take their violent video games away. Also tried to warn them that Trump had also blamed video games for violence in the past. They were not convinced despite me posting direct quotes, lol.
---

Lokarin posted...

But not TV, books, movies, or "teh rap muzic"

Best post, honestly. Video games are an easy target because it's still the newest medium out there and because people are in control of their actions while playing them. To be fair though, heavier rap and metal groups got their spotlight in the legal system back in the day as well, though. Hell, there's even a banned books list.
---

Dude, if video games caused these problems I would be the next Ghenghis Friggin' Khan easily.
---

This is the standard deflection response of GOP politicians. The NRA donates millions of dollars to Republican politicians in order to insure that NO gun legislation ever makes it through Congress. Trump repealed gun legislation passed by Obama that made it more difficult for the mentally ill to buy guns and yet blames these recent shootings on mental illness (and video games). Unreal.
---

jramirez23 posted...

Im not blaming video games, but something about this argument doesnt make sense to me. If video games were the cause, wouldnt it still be possible for the numbers to be like this? It would just point to some non-linear relationship.

5x population and 5x video game usage means they have roughly the same percapita video game usage. (an average of around $76 spent on video games per person.) so, it's not a matter of scaling non-linearly; they have the same input value and wildly different output values.

---

---

Ferarri619 posted...

He would play xbox

---

The funniest part about this is watching some of the staunchest pro-censorship Democrats do a 180 and defend video games despite previously having argued that they have a dangerous influence. Chris Murphy -- who said that TMNT was too violent for his kids -- went on record saying that violent video games aren't the problem (instead he blames Trump) when he *literally* went on a tear blaming violent games and trying to link them to mass shootings after Sandy Hook.

Lokarin posted...

But not TV, books, movies, or "teh rap muzic"

Games are a far more immersive media than tv, movies, or rap, all of which are more immersive than books. Plus more people watch movie and tv than play games so they're not risking as many votes.

Mead posted...

jramirez23 posted...

Im not blaming video games, but

Let me stop you there

No, let him continue. I want to see where this is going!

dvdjedi posted...

Trump repealed gun legislation passed by Obama that made it more difficult for the mentally ill to buy guns and yet blames these recent shootings on mental illness (and video games). Unreal.

It actually didn't or, at least, it didn't impact the ones who are most likely to be a threat. All it did was block people who receive government disability benefits for a mental illness from purchasing, which afaik hasn't applied to ONE mass shooter in the past and likely wouldn't apply to any in the future either. And, in the cases of severe disabilities, they were absurdly unlikely to buy the weapons themselves anyway and probably would have gotten it from a family member, which is how a number of other mass shooters got their guns.
---