I saw a pretty good movie last night. It was called "If....," starring Malcom McDowell, and it was made in 1968. Needless to say, school shootings were involved, and I'm pretty sure this was around before video games.

(Yes, I know this article is about a Wendy's, not a school. I just thought it was interesting).

@F**ked Up

Speaking as someone who's actually on medication for depression, I can honestly say, it's hard to know when it's relevant and when it isn't. People have this odd misconception of mental illness and related medications. They think it changes you. Somehow become a different person. I don't know that's true, I don't even feel that different, it just takes the edge off.

I think people have difficulty using the term only when it's relevant because people don't really understand it. I'm not trying to criticize, I don't understand it either. What I'm trying to say is that it's only human nature that people try to understand horrific acts and why they occur. In order to understand, they usually have to put it in some sort of framework they can relate to. Am I making any sense? People have a hard time understanding, "bad things happen to good people for no very good reason"; and it's easier for them to understand "bad things happen to good people because this person was "sick".

"Did you notice that no one raised the issue of video games following Monday’s tragic shooting spree at a Wendy’s in West Palm Beach, Florida?"

Nope but you seem to have no problem bringing it up.

Pong made him do it. Or breakout, the violent cousin of pong.

No Deus...

It had to be violent pinball games in the 60's - it just took a while for it to catch up!

lol

Do gun stores in America even bother with background checks?

This is all biased bullshit. End of story. Humans that are pathetic, weak individuals always need something to blame something else on, no matter how illogical or stupid it sounds. Hey, I'm pointing my mouse at you guys! Oh, hey I'm clicking it! I'm ready to go on a school rampage now, with this neat gun I downloaded from the internet!

I wonder, does Pac-Man make people want to go around eating yellow dots?

SteveUK: Yes. Contrary to what our alarmist media would make you think, we aren't killing each other out of nowhere every second of every day.

BlackPhoenix: And the people in the UK that do stab each other have a per capita rate of twice the US. You're still trying to kill each other. It's not right to punish law abiding gun owners when a vast majority of the murders here (and I'm sure most of the stabbings in the UK) are violent criminals killing other violent criminals. If anything, the war on drugs is to blame for the violence, not access to weapons.

Plain and simple,

It is all too easy to blame videogames if the shooter or stabber was a person under the age of 30,

However it is more harder to blame Videogames if the shooter or stabber is OVER to age of 40.

Simple truth is that 80 percent of the population want simple answers, so they blame Videogames.

20 percent of people know that there are no such things as simple answers, so they go to the efforts to DO the research and find that Videogames have no direct link to the murder,

Sadly 80 percent of people will believe simple answers because they can't understand the complicated language...

it's the 80/20 model that is working here...and the 80% model is governed by the Mass Media and what they can spew to the general population with little or no evidence at all.

If anyone has any better answers that they can add onto mine, please write and join in.

It was minesweeper... Microsoft should be to blame in this... or should it be Valve... or perhaps Apple. all those bombs really train your brain to kill and those games are played by older persons. I demand accebss to information regarding his gaming habits. I'm sure it has something to do... with something

Also, sorry if I went too off on a tangent there, but Tbone, I hope that's a better answer.

@Chalts

The problem with that is that often everyone is shocked that a person did such a thing. With most people, nobody knew they were batshit insane until they went and did something crazy. So I wouldn't expect that to solve many problems. Although, it would have stopped that VTech shooting, that kid was crazy.

BTW, I have trouble considering anyone who kills people smart. I think that's giving them too much credit.

Part of the whole age and games thing, let's face it, is that knee-jerk, protect the kids, won't someone-think-of-the-children! reaction that most conservative parents get. I mean no disrespect to parents, I understand that when you become a parent, it literally changes everything. However, allot of parents get really irrational about that. I mean good lord, I actually saw somebody marketing a backpack for kids with a kevlar plate in it. Yes. Bulletproof backpacks.

I was talking to my father once. I'm the youngest and I'm in my 30's, so suffice it to say my parents have had the luxury of relaxing by and large for some time. He basically described it as something everyone goes through. There's a phase when kids are physically kids, and when they're teenagers they may not be kids anymore, but their parents still think they are. The point is, most parents eventually realize that their kids getting hurt isn't the end of the world. In fact, occasionally getting hurt is part of growing up. At which point they eventually relax a little bit. If you think about it, that explains 1-20. 20-30 is just statistical evidence people use to make their cases for legislation to protect 1-20.

That, to me, is a big part of why you tend to see a knee-jerk conservative reaction to violence among the young. However, it is irrational. Let's face it, most of us are more statistically likely to die in violent car accidents then we are to get shot by some wierdo who just snapped. There's only been one shooting that I can think of within 100 miles of where I live in the last two years, and that was at the new life church. (I know that means nothing to people who aren't in my area, but anyone who's even remotely familiar with new life shouldn't be the least bit surprised that somebody shot the place up. It's almost symbolic of the worst kind of conservative christian.)

@ jadedcritic

Don't forget that plenty of liberals are on this same bandwagon. The big-brother/nanny state folks are just as vocal in blaming games...the belief is that people aren't responsible for their actions and must be protected by the government.

Being an old school kind of guy, he needs an old school type of scapegoat. Seeing as he shot up a fast food joint, he must have been influenced by the fil "Falling Down". Michael Douglas made him do it.

Nothing will stop someone from getting a gun if they want one. Even if all the loopholes are closed there's still a big enough blackmarket that will be more than happy to supply someone, at a much higher price of course.

@Cidas:

The decision gets handed down today, I think. It'll take time for it to be disseminated.

-P

I live in canada, where people are not supposed to have guns like in the US, but just the other night the swat team was at a house 3 doors down from me because some guys were holding another guy hostage at gun point.

My point is that people will find a way to get a gun if you want one.

just something i gotta say here - im mentally ill, have access to weapons, and play games. yet for some reason i do not feel a strong desire to kill people? what is wrong with me!!!

Banning guns won't help, these people are straight ahead intent on hurting and killing people, so they'll turn to other methods to do so, the idea of homemade bombs quickly comes to mind.

The only thing I can truly think of that would at least help to curb this kind of violence would be to require everyone who wants to purchase a gun to go through a simple psychological evaluation. But that would only cover the crazies who are trying to BUY guns, what about the crazies who already own guns?

Now, in order to own and fire a gun, in general, you'd need a gun license, right? But that's only in each state, correct? If I'm not, then someone please correct me.

Otherwise, there's only one real solution I can think of, though it would be opposed by gun advocates. Have each state have a gun license that would require, among other things, a short psychological evaluation, and renewal every 4 years or so, kinda like a driver's license. Of course, in order to get this done, the politicians would have to realize that it's not the "violent video games ZOMG Doom!" that are behind these shootings, but psychological illness and access to guns, like Dennis said.

The REAL reason politicians refuse to do this is because it would rile up the gun advocates, and videogames are played by the younger generations, which is a group that the politicians, and the narrow group of constituents that they really pay attention to, have fallen out of touch with and don't understand. And of course, if you don't understand it, then it must be evil and must be completely vaporized.

Whatever happened to the simple explanation that the person went off the deep end and wanted to go out in a blaze of sour grapes? Almost every asshole who goes on a rampage like this winds up shooting themselves anyway. Definitely NOT something you get from a video game.

@jadedcritic

I understand

"bad things happen to good people because this person was “sick”.

I am just hoping people will stop throwing around mental illness every time something horrible happens. After all we are not calling every single person that is committing terrorist attacks in Iraq, mentally ill. Although I know some people wouldnt hesitate

@ GRIZZAM 512

Bad boy! No being allowed to be the voice of reason! :)

It's not fashionable to talk of personal responsibility because then you can't blame something you detest for someone's repulsive action. ;)

Space Invaders made him do it.

@Shaesyco

They'd say: All this person ever did was knock around that poor little pixle.It tailored him to be violent, and he unleashed his violence all over that school. Don't blame him; blame pong for driving him over the edge of sanity.

I also find it amusing whenever an anti-gamer watches someone commit "horrible" acts in a game, they freak out and go, "Why would you do that?" Well, for one thing, when you chainsaw a Locust in Gears of War, you have no empathy for him because you know it's just a pile of polygons. It has no feelings, no life. If it has a purpose, it would be to just wait to be chainsawed for the amusement of the player. But, well at least for me, I would NEVER think of actually using a gun to shoot someone, despite the fact I've played many shooters. Personally, I think that the idea of games teaching kids to be serial killers is bogus, and kids should probably just avoid violent games for the sake of of making the rating system mean something. Parents need to wake up to the 21st century, realize that new technologies make it easier for kids to gain access to what they shouldn't, and be stronger in their position. I find it sad that as the media is becoming more powerful, parents are becoming weaker. Yes, the standards of society are weakening, and were ALL GOING TO DIE HOLY CRAP AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

You suck, Jack Thompson

Shoehorn O'Plenty: HAHAHAHAhahahaha.... ouch, my sides hurt from laughing.


As for the "Guns or no Guns" argument, I personally have only used guns like 10 times in my life and it was always rifles or shotguns. The reason for that is that in Iceland (where I live) those are the only guns allowed. I know what some of you are thinking "well you can kill as easily with those" well we have had 1 gun victims in the last 5 years (also I should mention that there are only 300.000 people in Iceland) and I think that is becose, how are you going to conceal a SHOTGUN? it works here. Also those of you that hunt in America, they wont take all your rifles and shotguns, they will take the automatics rifles, pistols (witch b.t.w. are useless for hunting) and other obvious none hunting weapons.

Im sure he had been playing too much Space Invaders...

If they are 30 or younger?!? That's just total Bull!

If I were to go into a Wendy's right now, shoot up the place, and I were over 30, then I guess I can't accused af video games?

That's retarded. Gamers don't have an age limit. I'm not saying that we should accuse everyone, but that segragation in on global scale! There are millions of Gamers around the world, and only a very small percent of them have a mental illness or would even THINK aobut doing something like this!