U.S. Vice President: Games Are Not Being "Singled Out"

[weirdee]

Just like everything else, this administration makes videos, appearances, make grand speeches and do absolutely nothing. We all knew that they weren't going to do anything on this, so please do not waste our time and money pretending that you're solving the mystery like Scooby-doo 2.0

so you're saying that there's somebody out there that can do something? or is this just another dig at "the man" for fun? at least everybody at the top is being levelheaded about this, and that's all i can really ask for. hell, it doesn't even need to be about scooby doo, the act of presenting authority in a calm and reasoned manner is probably more important than pointing fingers. "leading by example" and all that shit, in a time where everybody's trying to blame somebody so that they aren't at fault.

 

[Little Gray]

Yes, other countries have less guns and few rates of gun violence. Thank you for sharing the obvious. I would think that countries without popsicles have fewer instances of flavored ice being eaten. The goal is to look at 1) Total Violence / Crime and 2) Instances of weapons being used to deter criminal acts.

Other countries are no less violent than America, they just use messier means in order to fulfill their quotas.

Yeah to bad things like crime rates disagree with you.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Yes, other countries have less guns and few rates of gun violence. Thank you for sharing the obvious. I would think that countries without popsicles have fewer instances of flavored ice being eaten. The goal is to look at 1) Total Violence / Crime and 2) Instances of weapons being used to deter criminal acts.

Other countries are no less violent than America, they just use messier means in order to fulfill their quotas.

That's a load of balls sir.

America has a higher murder rate (as in murders per 100'000 people per year) than Palestine, Palestine, as in the people in a permanent slap fight with Isreal. It's the highest murder rate in the first world. It's even a higher murder rate than Afghanistan, including combat deaths. Let me repeat that for you, the murder rate per 100'000 population in the US is higher than Afghanistan, meaning that an American soldier is statistically twice as likely to killed at home than he is on deployment.
Of course the numbers don't quite reflect reality (unless the NRA breaks out the suicide vests in response to gun control), but it highlights how big a problem the US has with violence when the averages say you're safer in a literal warzone.

Americans seem love killing each other and they love doing it with guns, all that rhetoric about self defence rings hollow when the top illegal acts with fire arms are suicide and homicide. America is like a Junkie with it's drugs when it comes to guns, unfortunately it's going to take something far worse than Sandy Hook (or Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora etc) to make the country look at itself and realise how farcical the attitudes surrounding weapons are.

 

[fix-the-spade]

so you're saying that there's somebody out there that can do something?

If a few manufacturers and distributors pulled their gas/blowback operated weapons and limited magazine capacities to three or four rounds that would help a great deal.

Horrible as it sounds a mad man's killing power is limited if he has to stop to cycle the weapon and reload all the time. Of course they would never do anything so responsible, what's up with selling .223 rifles to civilians anyway?

 

[Gormech]

Idea to fix a good portion of this. Everyone knows that we can't tell the media to stop showing vids of the thing due to the whole freedom of speech thing. We all know they just do it for the ratings even if it's one of the biggest contributors to future incidents. Here's an idea: Change the channel. If you don't, you're only encouraging things and none of this is going to go anywhere except in circles.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

You know what? I like that Biden character! Though he may want to wash his hand after patting John Riccitiello...

It's too late, that hand's dead now. It had to be clinically removed, exorcised and burned in a chemical furnace.

However I did find it amusing how bored John Riccitiello looked throughout all this.

He obviously hasn't gotten his daily quota of child souls and Unicorn blood to keep him active.


As much as I enjoy my personal vendetta against 'Don' Riccitiello, I can fully understand why he is there. I just hope that this is taken seriously, since it's a pretty landmark occasion, and what this forum finds from looking at all the research will inform actual real American policy in the immediate future and for a long, long time.

 

[Kaymish]

is it just me is does John Riccitiello look like one of the bad guys supergirl killed in her new comic?

 

[RicoADF]

There is a silver bullet it's called Gun control/regulation, or it's at least 90% of the bullet. Seriously the US has one of the worlds worst gun regulation policy's and it wonders why it has one of the highest gun related crimes/murder rates?

Look at other first world countries stricter gun laws, and than look at their lower gun related crimes and murder rates. They have the same violent movies and games you do it's not rocket science to figure what the problem is. You don't want to regulate your guns better, don't expect gun related incidents to go down.

Yes, other countries have less guns and few rates of gun violence. Thank you for sharing the obvious. I would think that countries without popsicles have fewer instances of flavored ice being eaten. The goal is to look at 1) Total Violence / Crime and 2) Instances of weapons being used to deter criminal acts.

Other countries are no less violent than America, they just use messier means in order to fulfill their quotas.

I would disagree with the last part, America is one of the most violant western countries. This seems to be a cultural problem going back to the war of independence and civil war. A nation born in violance and blood knows little else.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I would disagree with the last part, America is one of the most violant western countries. This seems to be a cultural problem going back to the war of independence and civil war. A nation born in violance and blood knows little else.

Name countries that weren't born in 'violance' and blood.

 

[Strazdas]

The goal is to look at 1) Total Violence / Crime and 2) Instances of weapons being used to deter criminal acts.

Other countries are no less violent than America, they just use messier means in order to fulfill their quotas.

Not its not. the goal is to look at gun related violence. you remove violence by doing things that remove violence, you remove gun violence by removing guns. but thats not the right topic for that.

so a US senator with sensible ideas and not doing rash decisions jut to appease public? have after 2012 we all went to heaven or something?

Name countries that weren't born in 'violance' and blood.

Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia, Iceland, Tibet, Norway, the list goes on.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Name countries that weren't born in 'violance' and blood.

Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia, Iceland, Tibet, Norway, the list goes on.

You consider Tibet to be a western country? Yeah ok...

Tibet's government was founded when the Communists invaded. You know, the normal way, with soldiers and guns. And you may be aware, that a war usually involves violence and blood. Oh and then there was a violent revolution against the rule, during which 100,000 people died while the modern government of Tibet crushed them into the ground. And then they instituted PRC policies resulting into up to a million deaths during their collectivization process. Boy, id hate to see what you consider an actual bloody foundation.

Iceland was a colony of Denmark, and achieved independence after Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany in a little not at all bloody event called World War 2.

The government of Norway was overthrown during WW2 as well. Oh and then the newly formed post war government, violated the Geneva convention and forced German POWs to run through minefields in order to clear them out. Stay classy Norway, stay classy.

Slovenia achieved its independence during the Slovenian Independence War; where they rebelled against the Yugoslavian government. The Yugoslavians leaflet bombed them with messages threatening to 'crush all resistance.' When the Slovenians didn't back down, the Yugoslavians rolled in tanks.

Pictured: The Yugoslavian plan put into operation to presumably hug the Slovenians and congratulate them on their 'totally not a violent war,' independence.

And the Czechs and the Slovakians... we'll they were just that freaking awesome. And they should have just kept going on Prague Spring and taken their independence in the 60s.

 

[Strazdas]

You consider Tibet to be a western country? Yeah ok...

Tibet's government was founded when the Communists invaded. You know, the normal way, with soldiers and guns. And you may be aware, that a war usually involves violence and blood. Oh and then there was a violent revolution against the rule, during which 100,000 people died while the modern government of Tibet crushed them into the ground. And then they instituted PRC policies resulting into up to a million deaths during their collectivization process. Boy, id hate to see what you consider an actual bloody foundation.

Iceland was a colony of Denmark, and achieved independence after Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany in a little not at all bloody event called World War 2.

The government of Norway was overthrown during WW2 as well. Oh and then the newly formed post war government, violated the Geneva convention and forced German POWs to run through minefields in order to clear them out. Stay classy Norway, stay classy.

Slovenia achieved its independence during the Slovenian Independence War; where they rebelled against the Yugoslavian government. The Yugoslavians leaflet bombed them with messages threatening to 'crush all resistance.' When the Slovenians didn't back down, the Yugoslavians rolled in tanks.

Pictured: The Yugoslavian plan put into operation to presumably hug the Slovenians and congratulate them on their 'totally not a violent war,' independence.

And the Czechs and the Slovakians... we'll they were just that freaking awesome. And they should have just kept going on Prague Spring and taken their independence in the 60s.

You never said western countries, i merely sticked mostly with Europe due to me knowing about them more than eastern ones.
Iceland had no bloodshed. as Denmark was invaded, the populace split off, with agreement from by then crumbling dannish government and suffered no bloodshed.

Germans invaded Norway, but that was when the country was already founded, so your example does nto work.

I have to agree with Slovenia, i did the mistake there.

 

[jackpipsam]

John Riccitiello?!?! John FUCKING Riccitiello?! One of the most disgusting money grubbing lying pieces of shit currently in the industry... I mean... FUCK!

He is the CEO of video gaming's largest developer and publisher.
How would he not be at this? Yes many gamers hate him (because corporations are EVIL!!!!!!).
But for this kind of government inquest, he is very relevant and is able to provide the necessary detailing to appease the government.

Many people call him out for not understanding gaming, but he does understand the world of business and THAT is what is needed right now.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

You never said western countries, i merely sticked mostly with Europe due to me knowing about them more than eastern ones.

If you're trying to prove that America is more violent than other western countries, because it was birthed through armed conflict, then I would assume it follows that your examples should be western countries. Otherwise your thesis makes no sense. Not that it matters because your only really unarguable example of Tibet was founded in a war that caused 100,000 or 1,000,000 deaths if you want to count The Great Leap Forward that their new government immediately brought.

And I can't think of a single 'eastern' country that was founded in peace.

Germans invaded Norway, but that was when the country was already founded, so your example does nto work.

They reformed under a new government after the war that was distinct from the prewar government. Are we talking about founding of countries or are we talking about founding of governments? Because if its founding of governments, then my point stands. If it was founding of countries then your point realllly does not stand, because Norway is viking territory. And the vikings ran around raiding any village they could find.

Even if we are only talking about the latest title under which norway unified: The Kingdom of Norway; how do you think kingdoms are formed? You think everyone just goes 'oh this guy is great' lets all pay him money and build him fortresses? No Harald Fairhair conquered the petty kingdoms of Norway and united them into the Kingdom of Norway, which is still the countries official title. All we have are poems written about him, and they are mostly about him winning battles. Oh and the dude fathered a son, named freaking Eric Bloodaxe. Bloodaxe. And you think it was founded peaceably?

 

[Vegosiux]

Pictured: The Yugoslavian plan put into operation to presumably hug the Slovenians and congratulate them on their 'totally not a violent war,' independence.

Well, truth be told, it only lasted 10 days, and casualties were low (44 dead, 146 wounded on Yugoslav People's Army side, 19 dead, 182 wounded on the Slovenian Territorial Defense side. Just over 4000 prisoners taken by the SLO side, which were promptly sent home after the Brioni Accord). Compared to what happened to the rest of Yugoslavia...yeah, we got off easy. Really, really easy.

So, in the light of the fall of Yugoslavia, this really was "totally not a violent war". Still, yes, our people had to fight for independence. The support of Germany and the Holy See for Slovenian independence helped a lot to bring the involved parties to the table to negotiate and away from shooting at each other.

Sorry, I struck a tangent here.

 

[Strazdas]

You never said western countries, i merely sticked mostly with Europe due to me knowing about them more than eastern ones.

If you're trying to prove that America is more violent than other western countries, because it was birthed through armed conflict, then I would assume it follows that your examples should be western countries. Otherwise your thesis makes no sense. Not that it matters because your only really unarguable example of Tibet was founded in a war that caused 100,000 or 1,000,000 deaths if you want to count The Great Leap Forward that their new government immediately brought.

And I can't think of a single 'eastern' country that was founded in peace.

America is more violent than whole world. Yes, even war zones. Americas violence rate is higher than that of a war zone. if that is acceptable to you i dont even know what to say.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Yes, other countries have less guns and few rates of gun violence. Thank you for sharing the obvious. I would think that countries without popsicles have fewer instances of flavored ice being eaten. The goal is to look at 1) Total Violence / Crime and 2) Instances of weapons being used to deter criminal acts.

Other countries are no less violent than America, they just use messier means in order to fulfill their quotas.

That's a load of balls sir.

America has a higher murder rate (as in murders per 100'000 people per year) than Palestine, Palestine, as in the people in a permanent slap fight with Isreal. It's the highest murder rate in the first world. It's even a higher murder rate than Afghanistan, including combat deaths. Let me repeat that for you, the murder rate per 100'000 population in the US is higher than Afghanistan, meaning that an American soldier is statistically twice as likely to killed at home than he is on deployment.
Of course the numbers don't quite reflect reality (unless the NRA breaks out the suicide vests in response to gun control), but it highlights how big a problem the US has with violence when the averages say you're safer in a literal warzone.

Americans seem love killing each other and they love doing it with guns, all that rhetoric about self defence rings hollow when the top illegal acts with fire arms are suicide and homicide. America is like a Junkie with it's drugs when it comes to guns, unfortunately it's going to take something far worse than Sandy Hook (or Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora etc) to make the country look at itself and realise how farcical the attitudes surrounding weapons are.

Research I've done has turned up that statistically the region with the most number of homicides per year is Africa as a whole, not the US. And it looks to have a pretty comfortable lead too. Compared to many countries on that continent, the US is far down the list.

Also, Afghanistan has a population around 30.4 million compared to the US's population of around 315 million. And the population of the largest cities in Afghanistan is far far less than in the US. Their top 10 most populous cities would have to be combined to compare with the population of New York City.

The people who have done mass shootings represent less than .0001% of the national population.
Something to note that overall crime AND violent crime has been steadily decreasing in the US, despite these shootings. Media is the reason people freak out so much. If you cut away all the other stuff statistically things are improving.

Media from the US seems to travel around the world more and people just love to hate on us, like your post does. Just because 1 in millions and millions of people might misuse a gun doesn't really make it reasonable to say things like "Americans seem love killing each other and they love doing it with guns..." Shameful, really.


Mass School Killings since 2000 Dead/Wounded

2011 Brazil 12/12 Gun used
2009 Azerbaijan 12/13 Gun used
2009 Germany 15/13 Gun used
2008 Finland 10/3 Gun used
2006 China 12/5 Arson
2002 Germany 16/1 Gun used

2010 in China was apparently really bad with this sort of thing.
Approximately 18 people went berserk with sickening numbers of casualties. Most were children/students. Most were with fire, hammers, and knives.

And this is just school stuff, there are so many more than are scarcely heard about that involve random killings, hate crimes, religiously motivated, and so on. It's not just guns and it's not just the US. And it's certainly not games or media like some say, this sort of thing has been happening throughout recorded history.

 

[Kirke]

Name countries that weren't born in 'violance' and blood.

Sweden. The first king of Sweden did wage a war, but that was against the Danes. Sweden was formed by the chiefs swearing loyalty to King Eric the Victorious, whom both the Swedes and Geats accepted as king. Then he had to fight off an invasion from the Jomsvikings.

Still, Sweden is a lot older than the US and 200 years of peace is quite a good way to get rid of a violent culture. So even if the birth of the country was violent, that culture is not left.

 

[Krantos]

There is a silver bullet it's called Gun control/regulation, or it's at least 90% of the bullet. Seriously the US has one of the worlds worst gun regulation policy's and it wonders why it has one of the highest gun related crimes/murder rates?

Look at other first world countries stricter gun laws, and than look at their lower gun related crimes and murder rates. They have the same violent movies and games you do it's not rocket science to figure what the problem is. You don't want to regulate your guns better, don't expect gun related incidents to go down.

The problem isn't the gun laws. It's our societal conception of guns. The gun laws and these shootings (to my mind) have a spurious relationship. They're both being caused by a 3rd factor: Our understanding of guns.

America has the laws we do because of how we as a society understand guns. FPS games are very popular in America for this same reason. These shootings also happen for this reason.

If we really want to stop these sort of things, we as a culture need to take a closer look at the way we glorify guns and the impact that has on our understanding of them and what they do.

But confronting that reality is a bit much for some people so....