Video Games Cause Violence?

You know folks, this is a meme I've seen being pushed by a lot of older people, that somehow video games make us more violent. So here's my question, is it true? In my opinion, I think this claim is bull shit. I could give you my own personal experience with video games, the fact that I played DooM during the same time the Columbine shooting happened, and even back then, as a kid I understood how bad of an argument this truly is.

Video games do not cause violence, people cause violence. If anything, video games are an outlet for the violence we'd otherwise inflict on each other. So why are people violent? I think it has something to do with how we've come to survive on this planet for as long as we have. While as humans as a collective may be rather stupid, we are also quite violent as well. I think violence is one of those primal things that is hard wired into us all. It just sort of happens.

That being said, how do you solve the problem of school shooters and the weird correlation that people keep trying to make with video games? One possible solution is to take responsibility for ourselves, and possibly develop techniques to defend ourselves from an active shooter situation? At least, that's what I did. I remember as a child, after the 9/11 attack we had a lot of drills where we had to evacuate the school as though there was an active shooter. While everyone else was worried about what to do, I already had a plan in my mind about what I'd do to survive.

Does this work for everyone? Probably not. I think I'm just weird. Either way, giving up our rights in an attempt to feel "safer," is a really bad idea. I'm by no means some right-wing gun nut, but I understand the purpose and necessity of having a second amendment and why it's important. I remember bring up the observation that all of these corporations preemptively raising the age for gun purchases would ultimately result in a law suit, because unlike alcohol (the basis of this argument), gun ownership is a fundamental right.

The rebuttal to this, however is, "Well they're a private corporation so you don't have to buy your guns from them." Which is true, however, just because you're a privately held corporation does not mean you can infringe upon the rights of others, or at least, that was what was set out in civil rights registration (ironic, I know).

So does raising the minimal age of gun purchases from 18 to 21 really accomplish anything? Will it prevent more school shootings? It's doubtful. Or, more specifically, I am doubtful. It's hard to say really, I'm not even bothering with statistics here, I'm just giving my shitty opinion here.

On that note, let's talk about gun violence guys. I've been seeing the claim that there have already been "34 mass shootings," and when I challenged someone on this claim, the response I got back was "Do your own research." That baffled me, because it was not my claim. I was also called a troll because I found it suspect that the term "mass shooting," was not adequately defined in the research itself, so when bringing up this concern I was further accused of trying to obfuscate and detract from the conversation. I later found that the term "mass shooting," does not have a clear definition to begin with, as according to the FBI they consider any incident in which at least three people have been shot to be a "mass shooting." So again, when I see that figure kicking around, I already find it suspect, because the context in which it's being used in one implying that this is some how a larger issue than it really is. It also does not provide proper context either, the same thing with the "18 school shootings," in which suicides that were committed with guns were included in their numbers, thus further muddling their reporting.

Speaking of the FBI, didn't they really drop the ball on this whole ordeal? Were they not informed of this guy and his intention to shoot up a school? I haven't talked about this publicly, but I've been visited by the FBI for something similar. They were not there for me, they were their for someone I was living with at the time. They knocked on my door at 2 in the morning and I stood outside my house in my underwear for hours freezing my ass off while they interrogated me. It was not a fun experience, and this was two years ago. Also, be careful about what you say in League of Legends, "they're" watching. So why did they do something in my case, but not this case? I find that answer a little harder to swallow.

I'll end this blog post with this, should we really give up our rights in order to feel safe? You may think that guns don't serve any purpose in our society and that all they seem to do is kill people, but is it really the guns doing the killing, or is it the people? I think there needs to be a cultural shift in this country, one where we stop trying to solve all of our problems with violence. Maybe we should be more willing to work with one another?