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We do not in any way brag that other countries are way better off but the situation in the US that has been going on for about the last four years is one that shocks not only the country but also to people across the world. Last week saw four mass shootings take place with the last two taking place in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, this past weekend. But as scary as that is, the aftermath might get to be as scary more or less, considering the familiar cycle that’s been playing out.
Lawmakers and government officials who are expected to give solutions to this deadly pattern offer thoughts and prayers but no real action is done to prevent future tragedies and here we are now. But to cover up all these blames are made everywhere on who is responsible for the gun violence that seems to be growing in the country. And as it has happened countless times before, video games have fingers pointed towards them.
In a speech after reports about the tragic incident, President Trump took to the press pointing at video games specifically as a root cause for the mass shootings. “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” he said. “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”
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This is reiterated by several of the Republican politicians, with some even stating that video games “dehumanise individuals”. Video games have been the whipping boy for gun violence since time immemorial with the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty being named as causes for similar cases in the past years.
And as much as the game industry is not as flawed and not close to perfect, this may turn out to be as wrong as it gets. Research over the decades has failed to find video games are the lead cause for mass shootings. Previous lawsuits against various video games have ended up ashaming the complainants as no evidence have been linked up to the video games.
All in all, what is clear here is that video games are violent yes, but these games are played all over the world. But unlike the US, you haven’t heard of such a huge number of mass shootings, meaning that the root cause is something totally different and is something the President and his team don’t want to admit. And as we speak there have been 255 incidents of mass shootings in 2019 alone.
So as much they evade the real issue and go for unrealistic agenda, there is still a lower place to go and more people will keep losing their lives unless the gun control is implemented, not blaming video games.
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