U.S. Senator Says Videogames Are Worse Than Guns

[Something Amyss]

The writer of the article is pushing his own agenda with remarks like "unfettered access to semi-automatic rifles" which is not true.

It is true. The next sentence:

Rifles were used in about 1% of murders, about the same amount as baseball bats.

Is not only untrue but also doesn't really do anything to rebut the notion that rifle access is unfettered.

Incidentally, homicide is less than 1% of all deaths in America. By the concept of significance, why should we even try and stop it? DUI fatalities are like half that number...Why bother trying to stop people from driving drunk?

OT: gsf1200, I'm not sure what country you live in. I live in the USA. I know a few places personally that I can get fully automatic weapons without much hassle. That's the problem.

Sure people can kill with a 5 shot semi auto rifle just like they can with a 30 shot AK-47, but why make it that easy for them? Shouldn't we at the very least limit the types of guns people can own in this country (USA)?

We do limit the kind of guns people can get already. Whether we should do more is at issue here. Also, an AK-47 can be purchased in semi-automatic form. I am curious: are you sure you have access to a fully automatic weapon?

"...But with the right contributions, some time next year I may find that the biggest threat to this country is maple syrup. That's right, MAPLE SYRUP! Yeah, you heard me, Vermont... I expect to hear some purse strings loosening."

You FIEND!

the Republicans are just people that trail along the sidelines picking up snippets of stuff the was popular once and try to use it to make themselves look good.

Hmmm...Republicans as bottom feeders. Not quite "Burns as Goa'uld," but close.

 

[Strazdas]

When you talk about trolling you also have to pay your dues to the most professional trolls of them all - US senators.
i refuse to believe there are people THIS stupid.

 

[NoeL]

Don't worry, the old **** - and others like him - will all be dead soon.

 

[ungothicdove]

Well, I mean, if you were to count all of the virtual killings there have been with Call of Duty, Halo, CS and the like then I suppose video games kind of dwarf all those, you know, real life killings.

It's science!

 

[Snotnarok]

No matter how many virtual bullets or swords you put into a digital character you're not going to suddenly think it's a great idea in reality. Unless you're of unstable mind and if you're letting your unstable kid play games that clearly involve such things, maybe it's not the games fault then, maybe, JUST maybe it's the persons fault.

 

[Darks63]

Gah are the babyboomers gone from power yet? cause i cant wait till they are, yes i can totally kill people with my games just like in that movie Stay Alive so be scared old man.

 

[Something Amyss]

Gah are the babyboomers gone from power yet? cause i cant wait till they are, yes i can totally kill people with my games just like in that movie Stay Alive so be scared old man.

Actually, he's a touch old to be a baby boomer. And given the runs senators have, it'll be another 60 years before we have gotten rid of the baby boomers.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

I've never heard of someone killed with a videogame, but this guy kind of makes me wonder how it would go down. I suppose breaking the disc and using the shrapnel as a knife of sorts would work, but then it stops being a game and just becomes a couple hunks of sharp plastic. Would he have a problem if we went all digital distribution on them?

A little bit more seriously, scapegoat what you don't understand, common practice for, well, a lot of people. The problem he'll have is that the next generation of voters, a lot of them are also gamers. If there were any truth to violent video games causing violent actions, we'd have seen increasing crime statistics rather than consistently lower crime statistics over the growing popularity of such games.

 

[Pessimismus]

Okay let's try an experiment: Who would you be more likely to hand over your money to?
Someone pointing a videogame at you, or someone pointing a gun at you?

Depends, do I get to keep the game?

 

[Cry Wolf]

snip

The reason Republicans cop so much shit is these are the people who are there representitives. If you want to stop the generalisations stop voting in old, racist, backwards old white men to office.

 

[Mauler]

Sweet cant wait to find out how it ends... oh wait it never did! Everey generation will condemn the next generation's entertainment medium as a destructive force that strips all morals and decency from the "young people"... Hey look at my dad - he told me that in his age(where the radio generation was at large) they said that all violence comes from violent programs on tv and violent movies so be ready to wait for those old farts to die out and live in peace... Also in europe it doesnt happen as much...

 

[bigfatcarp93]

In related news, a man walked into a crowded mall and really annoyed the shit out of like ten people when he started whipping video game discs at them. One man was heard to say, 'Dude hit me in the side of the head, I dropped my frappucino!" Lawyers were on hand to comfort the abused crowd and reports say the litigation will total in the billions of dollars when all is said and done.

Oh wow... am I fucked up for laughing at that?

 

[GameChanger]

Films affect people, music affects people, art affects people.

He has all the reasons to say that video games affect people just as much. However, like any other kind of art, putting a block on it is a violation of the most fundamental rights we have. And frankly, not EVERY kind of effect a piece of entertainment has will be malevolent. Good games can inspire, evoke and convey emotions just as much as a great painting can.


Remember the last time a piece of personal expression got burned? And by that I mean a book, books were burned.
Remember?

Alright, now let's ban the fucking guns.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Of course video games are more dangerous. How many hundreds of people are killed by game discs leaving their cases at high speed, piercing skin, shredding a person's muscles and internal organs and causing them to bleed to death? Oh wait, is that bullets? I forget.

 

[Ranorak]

He's right though, those edges of the discs, they can kill a man!
Not to mention the lethal side effects of the plastic wrapper.

Don't forget about putting disc in the microwave for 2-6 minutes that can cause a nice explosion.

Why are these death-traps still for sale!

Will someone think about our children!
Who knows what they do when we leave them totally unsupervised, while we go to work!
You can't expect me to look after them and raise them!?

 

[Kroxile]

Everytime I see a story like this I think: Thank god that in 30 years crap like this will cease to be spewed from the mouths of our leaders.

Huh? So stupidity is set to be eradicated by 2043? How's that again?

Not stupidity neccessarily, but all the old right wing nutjobs will be long dead by then and more of today's youth/people will be in their positions instead.

 

[Jamous]

What. Can you honestly say that? I genuinely have no idea how he can actually, tenably hold that belief. How is that the case, even in the most ridiculously twisted of circumstances, which these are not? Ugh.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

He's right you know.

This dude was trying to kill me, and I threw a copy of Modern Warfare at him and it bounced right off his head. Not to be dissuaded I tried a copy of Mass Effect. No dice. I even chucked the Dawn of War anthology at him, and that's a big box. He did at least say "ouch", I think I hit him in the nose with the corner. Finally I gave up and pulled out my trusty 12 bore and shot him. Went down straight away. I know it's only anecdotal evidence but from this I'm certain video games are worse than guns at killing people.

 

[Slash2x]

I think getting shot in the face affects people more than playing video games.

As horrible as it is, I had a good laugh at this. I can imagine someone saying this with a deadpan expression.

So, while the amount of people playing games is somewhere in the high millions, can we expect a good million cases of mass killings, Mister Republican? Meanwhile, how about you actually answer the question you were given, rather than changing the subject to something, I can assure you, is completely unrelated. But then, we disagree on a lot of things, don't we?

Agreed, but politicians get elected because they can side step the real issues and shift the public's focus to something much less important.

Sometimes I despise being an American. I love the idea of America but lately the rulers of this country have been turning it into a royal f.cking mess. We could be so much better.

^ point
ANd when was the last time anyone talked about the War(S) over seas? OR the economy? Nah they saw a shooting an one moron said something about games. Now they are all on that shit like fat kids on cake. They see it gets press and start screaming about how the constitution is "Limiting" them.......... LIMITING? That is your FUCKING job! TO PROTECT AND ENFORCE THE CONSTITUTION! YOU DRAFT LEGISLATURE TO HELP GUIDE THE USA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION!! IF IT IS LIMITING YOU THEN YOU ARE DOING YOUR JOB WRONG!!

I seriously think no one over 50 should be allowed in office. Too many of these idiots go senile.