I’m late to this because I couldn’t bring myself to the subject but although there are multiple studies that confirm that violence in video games does not breed violence I can’t help thinking that it’s not a healthy thing to normalise violence in what are effectively toys. I don’t think the world would be a worse place if violent games didn’t exist.
Not a worse place for you, sure, what about those people that enjoy games and have never considered shooting anyone?
Switzerland has both high gun ownership rates and violent video games, yet these mass shootings don’t seem to be such an issue. The problem is not guns (although they make the problem worse), or video games, it’s the absolutely flawed mindset of so many Americans.
Gun ownership in Switzerland is very different to the US and is mainly linked with the Swiss having to do compulsory national service and being able to step up for service or training at any time during their nine year availability to serve.
As a result many Swiss keep their military firearms at home as they need to do once a year testing, but they are not supposed to keep ammunition at home.
So, yes, gun ownership in Switzerland is very high but the guns are held by trained soldiers not some inbred teenage redneck fuckwit angry cause he can’t get laid.
Why can't we have a law that makes carrying a knife unless in the line of your business, a custodial offence?
The prisons would be full in a matter of days.
Good idea. Although the reasoning of many young men today is they are tooled up because the street is a very dangerous place now. I'd be interested to see what investment goes into making that street safer.
Obviously police are seemingly no longer allowed to "stop and search" anyone anymore for fear of being called racist (even though the majority of fatal knife crimes in London are in fact between black males. So with it being impossible to make the streets safer, young people tool themselves up. The most vicious of cycles continues. We have identified a significant part of the problem. We have identified the solution. We have identified that we choose NOT to solve this problem. On it goes ...
The massive problem is that an average American sees keeping a gun as a way of protecting his home and family. An intruder even if carrying full well knows this. How do you reverse the status quo so that the homeowner isn’t armed and therefore the intruders don’t feel the need to be likewise “protected” ? It’s just not possible to make the reverse. It’s too late. That’s not even taking into consideration that there is not the slightest will or inclination to do so.
The thing is, a well adjusted person can watch and enjoy violent films and video games and not copy them. Personally, I don't think there is a firm link and the important factor is a messed up individual. In America you can be messed up and still access or own a gun. Imagine how scary that would be if it was the case here?
I agree entirely with this point of a well-adjisted person being perfectly able to watch violent films and video games and not copy them. But ...because clearly there are large numbers of people who are NOT well adjusted ~ I say, out of charity , for those not so well-adjusted, we ban this stuff. This reasoning can be applied to alcohol, gambling and many other very very harmful things in society. For too long now we have allowed so many things in our permissive and broken society not with the vulnerable ever in mind but the strong.
It is time we make a decision based on what is actually better for society. I don't see what harm it brings to anyone well adjusted or vulnerable, when we decide to shelve violent films and video games. I'd certainly not stop there either.
So you’d ban
violent video games (is Pac-Man violent) violent movies (teenage mutant ninja turtles?) gambling alcohol
what about contact sports, like wrestling and boxing?
This is where our current Prime Minister stood on the debate at the time, surprised?
That article is shocking, but in fairness he probably doesn’t believe a word of it, in 1997 I imagine the idea from his point of view would’ve been to look good in the eyes of the conservative hierarchy and the telegraph bosses, protecting old money at all costs.
The thing is, a well adjusted person can watch and enjoy violent films and video games and not copy them. Personally, I don't think there is a firm link and the important factor is a messed up individual. In America you can be messed up and still access or own a gun. Imagine how scary that would be if it was the case here?
I agree entirely with this point of a well-adjisted person being perfectly able to watch violent films and video games and not copy them. But ...because clearly there are large numbers of people who are NOT well adjusted ~ I say, out of charity , for those not so well-adjusted, we ban this stuff. This reasoning can be applied to alcohol, gambling and many other very very harmful things in society. For too long now we have allowed so many things in our permissive and broken society not with the vulnerable ever in mind but the strong.
It is time we make a decision based on what is actually better for society. I don't see what harm it brings to anyone well adjusted or vulnerable, when we decide to shelve violent films and video games. I'd certainly not stop there either.
So you’d ban
violent video games (is Pac-Man violent) violent movies (teenage mutant ninja turtles?) gambling alcohol
what about contact sports, like wrestling and boxing?
Exactly Stu - I grew up playing pac-man in the 80’s and if video games had any kind of influence, I would have spent the 90’s in a darkened room, taking pills and listening to repetitive electronic music and seeing ghosts
Yep that seems like a really smart idea. Let's have ONE door in and out at schools with 1k+ kids.
What happens when it's lunchtime and the kids are all outside?
It's absolutely unbelievable the knots that twats like Cruz will tie themselves in to say that "guns aren't the issue, the way that our buildings are designed and built are"
America is filled with so many fucking idiots.
They worship guns, it's the only way that they could keep things like this going.
I'm sure the reasons why some Americans want to got on mass shootings, including at schools, are complex involving everything from drugs, mental health,.family breakdown, lack of support, radicalisation on the internet, inherently being a test you name it. No simple solution to any of this, complicated questions to be answered etc. Oh, and don't make it possible to buy/access daddy's assault rifle might also help.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
The majority of Americans want more gun control but a minority comprising the NRA and most of the Republican party can and will continue to block any attempts at gun control at a Federal level. It doens't matter how many shootings there are, the easily availability of guns will never have anything to do with the massacres. This Guardian article shows the level of thinking of right wing America and how facts simply aren't important to them.
First, trans people and immigrants were blamed. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Republican congressman Paul Gosar tweeted that the shooter was a “transsexual leftist illegal alien”. His source for this lie was the rightwing social network 4Chan, which was busy circulating the picture of a transgender artist and wrongly claiming it was the shooter. (He has now deleted the tweet.)
Then the Federalist found a way to blame Ukraine for the shooting in Texas. “Sandy Hook proved the need to enhance K-12 security,” one headline blared. “Congress armed Ukraine instead.” Gold medal for mental gymnastics right there.
Then last night, Fox News, tried to shift blame on to the parents. Host Laura Ingraham strategically brought Andrew Pollack, the father of a Parkland victim who has previously argued that “guns didn’t kill my daughter, Democratic principles did,” on to her show.
“It’s the parents,” Pollack told Ingraham. “It’s your responsibility where you’re sending your children to school … You need to check where your kids go to school. You need to go back to school and see. Is there a single point of entry? Do you have guards at the school?”
The thing is, a well adjusted person can watch and enjoy violent films and video games and not copy them. Personally, I don't think there is a firm link and the important factor is a messed up individual. In America you can be messed up and still access or own a gun. Imagine how scary that would be if it was the case here?
I agree entirely with this point of a well-adjisted person being perfectly able to watch violent films and video games and not copy them. But ...because clearly there are large numbers of people who are NOT well adjusted ~ I say, out of charity , for those not so well-adjusted, we ban this stuff. This reasoning can be applied to alcohol, gambling and many other very very harmful things in society. For too long now we have allowed so many things in our permissive and broken society not with the vulnerable ever in mind but the strong.
It is time we make a decision based on what is actually better for society. I don't see what harm it brings to anyone well adjusted or vulnerable, when we decide to shelve violent films and video games. I'd certainly not stop there either.
So you’d ban
violent video games (is Pac-Man violent) violent movies (teenage mutant ninja turtles?) gambling alcohol
what about contact sports, like wrestling and boxing?
Best way to ban school shooting is to ban schools!
Seen the below shared by a load of Americans, words escape me.
As for Switzerland, they have very high gun ownership by European standards, 30 guns per 100 people. USA is like 120 guns for 100. Second amendment is about defending yourself from the government (gun owner interpretation) so if the government tries to disarm them it's not going to be pretty. Even with background checks, someone of sound mind could turn into a nutcase and own a gun.
Did Thomas Hamilton watch video games before the Dunblane shootings in 96? Wasn't he a member of a gun club? That was the last attack on a school in this country and we have access to violent films, video games and dangerously sick people. What we don't have is easy access to guns. This provides a simple formula for identifying a major cause of this issue in America. But of course people look for the truth where they want to find it, not where it actually is.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
"Acrive Shooter Simulation" is a simulation programme created by the Department of Homeland Security for teachers to simulate how to protect children and escape from a school shooting.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
"Acrive Shooter Simulation" is a simulation programme created by the Department of Homeland Security for teachers to simulate how to protect children and escape from a school shooting.
My first thought on waking yesterday morning at this tragic news on R4 was, "my 8 year old grandaughter". She is the apple of my eye and more often than not, the reason I get up in the mornings.
But, we have Ofsted in at work so I crashed on with that.
Sitting here and reflecting on this after finding this thread. My heart breaks. The horror those poor little souls must of gone through, the terror that assaulted their innocent minds makes me feel sick.
Then this morning, again on R4, some complete nubbin of a US politician arguing the toss and unable to see the obvious solutions makes me so angry, I shake.
I will give Ella an extra special hug when I see her, she can jump all over me, drag me off to any park. Grandad will be her indentured slave and at her beautiful beckon call.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
"Acrive Shooter Simulation" is a simulation programme created by the Department of Homeland Security for teachers to simulate how to protect children and escape from a school shooting.
There was a version for sale on steam a few years ago where you were the shooter and got points for killing kids, teachers and police. Maybe had a slightly different name then.
the republican commentary on this atrocity would be quite quite different if the school pupils were not majority 'hispanic' imagine the response if the slain were predominantly northern-european, white and middle class but this is a society whose schools teach 6 year olds how to duck and cover when an armed murderer comes to class
the irony of a border force operative shooting dead a suspect for shooting hispanics in texas will also be lost on the white supremacist ruling elite
So armed person arrives at the one door to the school and shoots the guard or guards (there are unlikely to be more than two at any one time). He knew they would be there, so would have a major advantage over them.
He then closes the door, locks it if that’s an option, and basically shoots anyone he wants to. There is no other way out for the kids in the school because of Ted Cruz’s genius plan.
The only way that there could be significant gun control in the US is if the Democrats win an election with a massive landslide, and that probably won’t happen any time soon. The republicans believe that the only way to stop these events happening is more guns, not fewer.
Can only see this getting worse and worse, because of the radicalisation of the right, and the polarisation of US society, aided and abetted by Murdoch’s Fox News.
PS ‘Violent’ video games are watched all over the world, but it’s only the US that has anything like this number of school shootings.
Also remember than an increasing number of mass shooting events are racially motivated, and the more Tucker Carlson and the like spread ‘the great replacement theory’ bullshit, the more people will ‘take matters into their own hands’.
the republican commentary on this atrocity would be quite quite different if the school pupils were not majority 'hispanic' imagine the response if the slain were predominantly northern-european, white and middle class but this is a society whose schools teach 6 year olds how to duck and cover when an armed murderer comes to class
the irony of a border force operative shooting dead a suspect for shooting hispanics in texas will also be lost on the white supremacist ruling elite
Except the majority of school shootings have been white kids shooting mainly other white kids and their ludicrous "commentary" has always been the same. But don't let reality get in the way of your diatribe.
Did Thomas Hamilton watch video games before the Dunblane shootings in 96? Wasn't he a member of a gun club? That was the last attack on a school in this country and we have access to violent films, video games and dangerously sick people. What we don't have is easy access to guns. This provides a simple formula for identifying a major cause of this issue in America. But of course people look for the truth where they want to find it, not where it actually is.
I’m really not saying violence in video games and movies and cartoons are a significant cause of violent crime. My observation actually rather than point was that wouldn’t the world be a better, nicer place without an obsession with violence. Altruistic to the point of stupidity, I realise that.
I suppose we'll hear the narrative that violent video games, that are now so realistic to real life visibly and where you can walk round a shopping centre,a library a school and shoot people to smithereens has absolutely nothing to do with this.
That's because they have little to nothing to do with it.
Gamer are you ?
How do you know what goes on in the f****d up heads of these crazy kids? Fuelling their mental fire cannot be helping. dismissing violent games as NOTHING to do with this relatively new phenomenon is naive.
There are no videogames where school shootings occur.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
"Acrive Shooter Simulation" is a simulation programme created by the Department of Homeland Security for teachers to simulate how to protect children and escape from a school shooting.
There was a version for sale on steam a few years ago where you were the shooter and got points for killing kids, teachers and police. Maybe had a slightly different name then.
The thing is, a well adjusted person can watch and enjoy violent films and video games and not copy them. Personally, I don't think there is a firm link and the important factor is a messed up individual. In America you can be messed up and still access or own a gun. Imagine how scary that would be if it was the case here?
I agree entirely with this point of a well-adjisted person being perfectly able to watch violent films and video games and not copy them. But ...because clearly there are large numbers of people who are NOT well adjusted ~ I say, out of charity , for those not so well-adjusted, we ban this stuff. This reasoning can be applied to alcohol, gambling and many other very very harmful things in society. For too long now we have allowed so many things in our permissive and broken society not with the vulnerable ever in mind but the strong.
It is time we make a decision based on what is actually better for society. I don't see what harm it brings to anyone well adjusted or vulnerable, when we decide to shelve violent films and video games. I'd certainly not stop there either.
So you’d ban
violent video games (is Pac-Man violent) violent movies (teenage mutant ninja turtles?) gambling alcohol
what about contact sports, like wrestling and boxing?
Best way to ban school shooting is to ban schools!
Seen the below shared by a load of Americans, words escape me.
As for Switzerland, they have very high gun ownership by European standards, 30 guns per 100 people. USA is like 120 guns for 100. Second amendment is about defending yourself from the government (gun owner interpretation) so if the government tries to disarm them it's not going to be pretty. Even with background checks, someone of sound mind could turn into a nutcase and own a gun.
There’s a reason for Swiss people having guns (but no ammo). See explanation given on previous page).
So armed person arrives at the one door to the school and shoots the guard or guards (there are unlikely to be more than two at any one time). He knew they would be there, so would have a major advantage over them.
He then closes the door, locks it if that’s an option, and basically shoots anyone he wants to. There is no other way out for the kids in the school because of Ted Cruz’s genius plan.
The only way that there could be significant gun control in the US is if the Democrats win an election with a massive landslide, and that probably won’t happen any time soon. The republicans believe that the only way to stop these events happening is more guns, not fewer.
Can only see this getting worse and worse, because of the radicalisation of the right, and the polarisation of US society, aided and abetted by Murdoch’s Fox News.
PS ‘Violent’ video games are watched all over the world, but it’s only the US that has anything like this number of school shootings.
Also remember than an increasing number of mass shooting events are racially motivated, and the more Tucker Carlson and the like spread ‘the great replacement theory’ bullshit, the more people will ‘take matters into their own hands’.
Don't be silly, the solution is obviously to have MORE GUARDS with MORE GUNS 🙄
Honestly, if you were to illustrate how fucked the US is in a nutshell, it would *literally* be Ted Cruz commenting on a mass shooting in a school.
Comments
Obviously police are seemingly no longer allowed to "stop and search" anyone anymore for fear of being called racist (even though the majority of fatal knife crimes in London are in fact between black males. So with it being impossible to make the streets safer, young people tool themselves up. The most vicious of cycles continues. We have identified a significant part of the problem. We have identified the solution. We have identified that we choose NOT to solve this problem. On it goes ...
violent video games (is Pac-Man violent)
violent movies (teenage mutant ninja turtles?)
gambling
alcohol
what about contact sports, like wrestling and boxing?
What happens when it's lunchtime and the kids are all outside?
oh hang on.
America is filled with so many fucking idiots.
They worship guns, it's the only way that they could keep things like this going.
Mass murder is not a relatively new phenomenon.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/25/right-wing-blame-uvalde-shooting-transsexuals-immigrants-parents
Excerpt:
First, trans people and immigrants were blamed. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Republican congressman Paul Gosar tweeted that the shooter was a “transsexual leftist illegal alien”. His source for this lie was the rightwing social network 4Chan, which was busy circulating the picture of a transgender artist and wrongly claiming it was the shooter. (He has now deleted the tweet.)
Then the Federalist found a way to blame Ukraine for the shooting in Texas. “Sandy Hook proved the need to enhance K-12 security,” one headline blared. “Congress armed Ukraine instead.” Gold medal for mental gymnastics right there.
Then last night, Fox News, tried to shift blame on to the parents. Host Laura Ingraham strategically brought Andrew Pollack, the father of a Parkland victim who has previously argued that “guns didn’t kill my daughter, Democratic principles did,” on to her show.
“It’s the parents,” Pollack told Ingraham. “It’s your responsibility where you’re sending your children to school … You need to check where your kids go to school. You need to go back to school and see. Is there a single point of entry? Do you have guards at the school?”
Seen the below shared by a load of Americans, words escape me.
As for Switzerland, they have very high gun ownership by European standards, 30 guns per 100 people. USA is like 120 guns for 100. Second amendment is about defending yourself from the government (gun owner interpretation) so if the government tries to disarm them it's not going to be pretty. Even with background checks, someone of sound mind could turn into a nutcase and own a gun.
There have been a few. "Active shooter Simulation" is one that comes to mind.
Is there a cheat code where you can go back in time a bit and reduce accessibility to weapons?
But, we have Ofsted in at work so I crashed on with that.
Sitting here and reflecting on this after finding this thread. My heart breaks. The horror those poor little souls must of gone through, the terror that assaulted their innocent minds makes me feel sick.
Then this morning, again on R4, some complete nubbin of a US politician arguing the toss and unable to see the obvious solutions makes me so angry, I shake.
I will give Ella an extra special hug when I see her, she can jump all over me, drag me off to any park. Grandad will be her indentured slave and at her beautiful beckon call.
God bless America but FUCKING WAKE UP!!!
There was a version for sale on steam a few years ago where you were the shooter and got points for killing kids, teachers and police. Maybe had a slightly different name then.
imagine the response if the slain were predominantly northern-european, white and middle class
but this is a society whose schools teach 6 year olds how to duck and cover when an armed murderer comes to class
the irony of a border force operative shooting dead a suspect for shooting hispanics in texas will also be lost on the white supremacist ruling elite
also when was the last time the Swiss were even involved in a war? the last one i can see is one they fought between themselves over 170 years ago.
Honestly, if you were to illustrate how fucked the US is in a nutshell, it would *literally* be Ted Cruz commenting on a mass shooting in a school.