Grand Theft Auto IV Blamed In Murder Case

[Zer0Saber]

I've read 3 different articles of this story and in NONE of the them has it brought up that an 8 year old should never have had access to a loaded gun. I'm not going to say that the game didn't influence the kid, but everything influences young children. My 5 year old niece watched ParaNorman and thought being dead would be really fun and I explained that it was just a movie and wasn't real. She thinks fairies are responsible for changing seasons. What I'm saying is, Children can be influenced by anything and it's up to parents and care takers to deal with that. I know this is tragic, but having been caring for children for a long time I have to quote Bill Cosby, "Children have brain damage."

 

[RonHiler]

Gee, if only there was some kind of video game rating system so that parents would know what games might not be appropriate for their young children....Oh, wait....

Gee, if only there was some kind of law that insured young kids couldn't get access to guns with live ammunition and shoot them, perhaps some kind of trigger guard.....Oh, wait....

Gee, if only there was some kind of law that required young children to be supervised.....Oh, wait....

Good Gods, this is an epic parenting fail.

 

[Dante dynamite]

I remember a story on CNN where a five year old in Kentucky accidentally shot his 2 year old sister soon after he was gifted his first gun for his birthday the story continued to say that it was normal to introduce guns to young children in that state and there are many incidents of the children accidentally killing family member no one was blamed and the article just asks how young is too young. The gun was also marketed towards young children.


Link:http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/kentucky-accidential-shooting

FOX article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/01/5-year-old-shoots-2-year-old-sister-in-kentucky-with-rifle-got-as-gift/
they don't put their opinion into this one.

Also the officer just assumes its GTA 4's fault no evidence just assumes fine police work

 

[cerebus23]

Blame the games not the parents/caregiver for having a loaded gun where and 8 year old can not only find it but "play" with it.

Common sense goes a long way, and it seems to fairly lacking in this story, from the start to letting a 8 year old play gta4 at all, and so on for the rest of it.

Of course the media is looking to blame anything but the root cause bad parenting. And games are higher on the hit list than guns suprisingly.

 

[Eternal Visitor]

am I the only one questioning how the kid managed to arm the weapon? either having the strength to pull the slide back to chamber a round (don't really know how hard this is cause I only have a spring powered BB gun, but those things can be hard to arm) or how they'd even know that that was required (just how accurate are toys these days???)

if that wasn't required, that means that the caregiver kept an ARMED HANDGUN IN EASY REACH OF AN UNSUPERVISED CHILD, and if there wasn't a game in reach, the news would probably be leaping down the throat of that point...

 

[Karhukonna]

For once, I can see how it's plausible that GTA IV affected the kid. But he was never supposed to be playing the game to begin with, it's about as adult as it gets.

I hope the mass media focuses on the whole "small child plays adult games" and "child shooter had free access to a weapon and ammunition" instead of just "Shooter played GTA IV, driven mad by simulated violence".

 

[FFP2]

Where the heck did a 8 year old kid get a gun with live ammo?

Ya'll need to have better passwords for your safes...

 

[unstabLized]

OMFG!
Why does he have access to a LOADED handgun?!
How did he GET access to a LOADED handgun?! Was it just lying around in plain sight?!
Why was an 8 year old playing GTA 4?
Why are police blaming a video game and not the caregiver or the parents who obviously did a piss-poor job of teaching the kid right from wrong and what is real and what is not real?
Why is FOX News...actually, I shouldn't ask that particular question. It's a given really.

If what FOX News says about violent games is true, then I should've commited mass murder myself a dozen times over by now. I've been playing violent games, First Person Shooters at least, since 007 Goldeneye came out when I was 7 years old.

Pretty much what ran through my mind the moment I read the first paragraph. But nooooo, it's the game that did it. Fucking Fox news and their negative IQ with reports..

 

[Ickorus]

If the game was a simple trigger for this kid to commit murder. Its likely he would have done it video game or not.

To be fair, a kid that young might not really have a grasp on the implications of his actions which begs the question why he had access to a fucking gun and a game with a MATURE rating.

Whilst the game may have had an influence on the child I can't blame it because of the awful parenting that put the game and a loaded gun in his hands.

 

[Vrach]

Police in Louisiana believe an eight-year-old boy who murdered his elderly caregiver was likely driven to do it by Grand Theft Auto IV.

eight-year-old boy

eight-year-old

Let us dwell on this for a moment shall we?

Oh, you're done? why the fuck did an eight-year-old have GTA4?

Or even worse, have easy access to guns and live ammunition?

More the latter than the former, I've been playing GTA since I was nine. Had a gun in the house too, no live ammo though, just blanks and I while fascinated by the weapon (MUCH more due to movies than games) was really scared of it as a child, would never point the thing at anyone, even with just blanks in it.

Also - if I take a piss minutes before going to shoot someone in the back of the head, would the public go on a wild protest and demand a nation-wide ban urination?

 

[kael013]

1. Why was an eight-year old able to play GTA 4? (hint: most likely has something to do with parenting and the antonym of "good")

2. Why did an eight-year old have access to a gun? You would think it would be locked up better what with all the cases of kids accidentally shooting themselves or their friends by "playing with them". And that brings us to...

3. Why did an eight-year old who had access to a gun also have access to ammunition? And if he didn't, why was the gun [i/]loaded[/i]? One of the most important rules gun safety classes drill into you is to never store guns loaded.

Oh course, none of these questions are important to the media or the police. The kid lived in the same house as a copy of GTA 4. Games are for kids, so [i/]obviously[/i] the eight-year old played it and it influenced his innocent, pure young mind into committing this heinous act. I wish my country's law enforcers would show some intelligence and actually do research on these hot topics (actually that goes for media and parents too) that may intrude of their job, so that they stop knee-jerking and actually do their job.

 

[Amaror]

God, i really don't get americas attitude to guns and i will never get it.

Guns don't belong in any household period.

I have a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 [http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rifles/sub-2000/] chambered in .40 s&w, the same round the local police and sheriffs departments have their service pistols chambered in.

I use this firearm primarily for dealing with Coyotes and feral pigs, the former because we have dogs and my grandmother lost her beloved chihuahua to them, the later because they are mean as fuck and can gore you fairly easily.

But, no, obviously I shouldn't have a weapon to defend my pets or family, I should just let my pets get mauled by wild animals and the next time I come across a feral pig I should just go ahead and let it take off my leg.


because someone doesn't like firearms.


sense makes this none.

yeah, fine, when you have to deal with wild animals it makes sense. I didn't think about that because in Europe we don't have that many hostile wild animals walking around. However i still think that america's gun laws are not restrictive enough. Guns just don't belong within kids reach.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

"Grand Theft Auto IV, a realistic game that has been associated with encouraging violence..."

As everything that can be said about an 8 year old having access to a loaded gun has been said, I have a different question relating to the quote above.

I'm not being facetious or snarky, but I'm not sure this is a true statement, is it? It's possible that I missed whatever scientific study proved this link, but as far as I'm aware there have been none. Is anyone aware of the study that definitively associates GTA with encouraging violence? And, like I said, this is a serious question - I'm genuinely curious.

 

[omega 616]

What actually pisses me off more are the people in this thread, this story is nothing new.

You all say the same thing "games don't cause violence", which I agree but what pisses me off is "an 8 year old shouldn't be playing GTA4", why not? I was playing the original GTA at roughly that age.

If games don't negatively effect kids, why are you saying they shouldn't play them? Don't say one thing then say the opposite in the same breath. Either games do effect people or they don't

 

[Vareoth]

Yea, just keep dancing around the real issue, which is America's gun culture. As long as no one is willing to acknowledge and do anything about that problem you should be prepared to pay the price of ignorance in the blood of your own people.

Here in the Netherlands we are required by law to get a permit and background-check before you are even allowed to handle a gun. You are also forced to store your personal guns and ammunition in separate safes in your house. This to prevent accidents such as this from even occurring. It's not watertight, but it is still preferable to lawlessness concerning deadly firearms.

 

[medv4380]

A better question is 'why was an 8 year old playing around with a loaded gun?'

No, just No. It is NEVER, "why was the kid playing around with a loaded gun?". All guns should be treated as if they are loaded at all times. Even when you know there isn't a chance in hell that it is. My neighbor got killed because they assumed the gun they were cleaning couldn't be fired let alone have a bullet in the chamber. Gun accidents happen all the time, and it's normally some idiot thought playing with it was acceptable. My wife's brother accidentally shot, and killed his best friend when he was this kids age because he was playing with a gun. You never point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them. You never leave a gun were a kid could get it. And you should always lock up your guns, or have no guns at all.

Kids shouldn't have access to Guns for the same reason they shouldn't have porn. They're not old enough to understand what it's used for, or are too immature to use them properly, or discreetly. A kids going to take his porn to school to show it off to his friends, and he'll do the same thing with a gun he gets his hands on.

I'm sorry you sound like your at least on the right track, but the whole "loaded gun" nonsense is grating because it's at the core of all gun safety training.

 

[Frezzato]

I think the only thing Grand Theft Auto IV made me do was go race cars in the subway under Manhattan.

In real life I mean.

I got up to the elevated rail via the wide stairwell at Brighton Beach near the non-functional Ferris wheel. Yes, I was the one who drove a GLK350 head-on into a subway car and killed five people, including myself. I can't believe it wasn't in the news. Oh that's right, that's because it's a fucking game.[hr]

Meanwhile, back in reality, the case is still fresh and I'm certain that the root cause will be identified. It won't be the game, it will likely be something entirely trivial [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/photogallery/killed-over-what.html?curPhoto=1], which will make this case infinitely sadder. One life lost, another ruined.

Rest in peace, Marie Smothers.

 

[Haakmed]

I to believe that the irresponsible parents/caregiver are not to blame for this tragedy! It is not a parents/caregivers responsiblity to ensure their children have appropriate games and gun control. If anything we should imprison everyone who works at Rockstar and probably everyone who works at a retailer who sells GTA. Lets just think about it for a second. If these people were in jail they couldn't have allowed this to play this game. We should also probably take all of Sony and send them to jail...and everyone who has ever purchased or made a gun in their life...cause well its their fault as well.

Seriously though....Why isn't how this kid got access to a gun the primary problem here? Why isn't that more than a 2 sentence blerb at the bottom? Ohhh I see it now....Fox news!