As you certainly already know by now, there was a mass shooting at a Florida high school this week, during which 17 people were tragically killed and 13 more were seriously wounded, shot in cold blood by a 19-year-old with a history of behavioural issues. Naturally, it didn't take long before politicians reacted to the sad news with public prayers and theories as to the cause of this latest tragedy, including Governor Matt Bevin who yesterday spoke to Leland Conway on WHAS. During that interview Bevin blamed the shooting on... yup, you guessed it, video games.
We are sadly used to seeing games targetted by both certain sections of the media and right-leaning politicians following these kinds of tragic shootings. Governor Bevin, in laying the blame squarely at the feet of games, obviously didn't notice the killer's passion for firearms (which, incidentally, are easily accessible in the state of Florida). Instead, he preferred to compare video games to "pornography" and blamed the violence in modern games:
"There are video games that, yes, are listed for mature audiences, but kids play them and everybody knows it, and there's nothing to prevent the child from playing them. They celebrate the slaughtering of people. There are games that literally replicate and give people the ability to score points for doing the very same thing that these students are doing inside of schools, where you get extra points for finishing someone off who's lying there begging for their life."
"These are quote-unquote video games, and they're forced down our throats under the guise of protected speech. It's garbage. It's the same as pornography. They have desensitized people to the value of human life, to the dignity of women, to the dignity of human decency."
While it is true and games can be extremely violent, we think by now it's fair to say that apart from a small minority of dissenting voices, almost everyone agrees that relaxed gun control laws and rampant gun ownership are at the root of America's long-standing and sadly growing issue with mass shootings.
What do you think about the fact that video games are regularly blamed for these tragedies?
Thanks, Glixel.com.