The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

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Blueguy1
Posts: 620
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Blueguy1 » December 21st, 2012, 6:53 pm

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/12/nra-video-games/

Shaking my head. This article came after another horrific shooting, this time in Pennsylvania (RIP btw to the poor victims). The National Rifling Association (NRA) says the solution is to bring more guns and less video games. According to these idiots, video games are part of a "callous corrupt and corrupting shadow industry." They criticized Mortal Kombat (the original video game), which has ZERO GUNS

Really? We're going to criticize video games of all things? Why don't we just criticize the upcoming releases of the new movies Jack Reacher and Gangster Squad? Both of these have guns in them, but nobody points a finger at them! What about the current trend of Gangsta Rap music? Glorification of violence and guns! No fingers pointed at all!

But no, they criticize video games. I've played all the big violent franchises (which I enjoy playing immensely); Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Halo, etc. etc. etc. Yet not once have I said to myself "I wanna shoot some people just like in those FPS and sandbox games!" Instead, I would just continue doing stuff part of my daily life. These guys don't understand and they'll never understand as far as I'm concerned.

Your thoughts?

Herschie1
Posts: 202
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Herschie1 » December 21st, 2012, 8:44 pm

I remember wanting to maul the mailman like Garfield would do. 

CoyT921
Posts: 19
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby CoyT921 » December 21st, 2012, 8:45 pm

There's always a scapegoat for tragedies. It's so easy for people like that to point their fingers at something and say "that's it...that's what causes others to do bad things". It's an incredibly convenient excuse. 

I think it's ridiculous. Video games, films, music...it's entertainment. People have been killing each other senselessly long before things like video games existed. The real reasons behind these acts...it's such a grey area. There is no definitive answer and there never will be. Yet the media and organizations have to say something, to place blame. 

It really sickens me. 

Cory1
Posts: 29
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Cory1 » December 21st, 2012, 10:23 pm

It's like I said on another thread, simple scapegoating. The tools in government immediately used this as an excuse to ram gun control laws that are proven to solve nothing down our throats, and the response is to scapegoat "objectionable" forms of expression. It's utterly stupid, and if our government simply obeyed the Constitution we wouldn't all have to worry about what stunt they'll pull next to deprive us of whatever it is we like to do. We should be able to play Splatterhouse or go shooting without some yahoos out there prancing around acting like it will suddenly transform you into a violent psychopath.

porynog1
Posts: 31
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby porynog1 » December 21st, 2012, 10:52 pm

The shooting was in Connecticut, not PA. I'd think if anything, video games would get angst and rage out, as opposed to influencing more.

darkrage61
Posts: 1678
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby darkrage61 » December 22nd, 2012, 12:21 am

Agreed that this is very stupid, entertainment isn't to blame for this, it's our countries lack of centralized mental health care that's to blame.


Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Sut1 » December 22nd, 2012, 6:18 am

I'm from the UK so I don't have the full picture about the NRA, but from the outside looking in it rather seems they will do anything to deflect attention from themselves, I would shudder to think what the UK would be like without our gun controls.

For a country as great and powerful as the US surely someone has the balls to take these people on ?

If its in your constitution to be able to arm yourself, why does that mean assault rifles ? Again we have our own problems here in the UK so I would never get on a soapbox but it does seem mystifying from over this side of the pond especially when it's innocent children involved.

snakeboy1
Posts: 1446
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby snakeboy1 » December 22nd, 2012, 2:10 pm

[QUOTE=porynog]The shooting was in Connecticut, not PA.[/QUOTE]

There was also a shooting in Pennsylvania yesterday.  

The NRA is playing the blame game here, something they are good at, so it's not surprising.

Atarifever1
Posts: 3892
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Atarifever1 » December 22nd, 2012, 2:51 pm

I think the guys at Penny-arcade got it right.  "It is a very strange type of patriot who attacks the first amendment to protect the second." 

Cory1
Posts: 29
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The NRA declares that there should be less video games?

Postby Cory1 » December 22nd, 2012, 4:08 pm

[QUOTE=Sut]I'm from the UK so I don't have the full picture about the NRA, but from the outside looking in it rather seems they will do anything to deflect attention from themselves, I would shudder to think what the UK would be like without our gun controls. For a country as great and powerful as the US surely someone has the balls to take these people on ? If its in your constitution to be able to arm yourself, why does that mean assault rifles ? Again we have our own problems here in the UK so I would never get on a soapbox but it does seem mystifying from over this side of the pond especially when it's innocent children involved.[/QUOTE]

You only have to look at your own history to see what the UK would be like without gun controls. In the year 1900 you were much less likely to be shot there that the US (just like now). The difference? Both countries had pretty much no gun laws whatsoever, and firearms ownership was widespread in both nations. So is it the guns? No. Switzerland would surely be a bloodbath now if it were, and it's easier to get a machinegun there than it is in the US. Yet you're far less likely to encounter violence there. It's just as pointless as blaming the violent video games is.

The bottom line is that blaming inanimate objects, whether it be a firearm or a disc with "offensive content" burned onto it, does nothing but deprive people of their freedoms for no reason whatsoever. When you find something objectionable, you need to keep it out of your house without trying to impose such values on others through use of government force. Do I have all the answers as to how to solve the problem of violence in our society? No, though I do have some thoughts that I think move too far beyond the realm of videogames. The point I just want to make is that the same mentality of the gun controllers is now being increasingly turned on videogames and movies, and it's the same nonsense in both cases. It should be rejected by anyone who cares to think it through. I have a copy of Splatterhouse, Duke Nukem, Resistance and any number of other violent M-rated games in the same awesome videogame room as I keep my Colt AR-15 rifle. Neither one have managed to go kill anyone so far. Let's move beyond the simple-minded scapegoating and start being more serious.


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