27 dead at Connecticut school, including 14 kids

[Warren Dew]

I have a job.

About 8% of the population of the USA is unemployed. if you have a job, you are not poor.

One could argue that welfare benefits being what they are in the U.S., you're more likely to be poor with a job than without.

[Jason]

He was addicted to Call of Duty.

That's it. You got it. Violent video games teaching kids how to fire, reload, aim.. yep. That's the problem.

[Warren Dew]

Improve the state of the art of diagnosing and treating mental illness and non-mental illness aberrations. Insure easier access to services and care. Remove the stigma on having a mental illness that is extant in society so people don't need to feel ashamed. Effectively address bullying and harrassment.

It would also help a lot if the tax system didn't encourage people with kids to get divorced.

[Kristie]

He was addicted to Call of Duty.

That's it. You got it. Violent video games teaching kids how to fire, reload, aim.. yep. That's the problem.

They are not the sole problem, but they sure as hell aren't helping.

[Guy_Montag]

Something else just occurred to me. To those who contend that guns are not the problem; that people would just kill with other implements: why don't we see those incidents then? If there's nothing special about guns, we should also see comparable numbers of murders and mass murders from other weapons. But we don't.

Wonder why that is.

You really think the guy would not have killed his parents with knife or baseball bat before trying to turn on the kids if he'd had no gun available? think again, the nut is the cause.
Don't blame the implement for doing its job too well.

I doubt he would have used a bat or knife. Killing someone with a gun from a distance is a lot...a lot different than killing someone up close with a knife or bat. Even if he did kill his folks the chance he kills that many people...children...with a knife or bat is highly unlikely. The implement shares the blame, no doubt. That doesn't mean I am FOR gun control either.

Apparently when knives are the easiest weapon to use, the spree killers prefer younger children:

"Large knives and cleavers are found in nearly every Chinese kitchen. Experts say that because the assailants haven't gotten hold of guns, strictly controlled in China, they have tended to go after victims who are the most vulnerable."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/13 ... k-20100513

Experts? Which experts, how are they qualified? Or is this just bollocks? Thought so.

[Warren Dew]

He was addicted to Call of Duty.

That's it. You got it. Violent video games teaching kids how to fire, reload, aim.. yep. That's the problem.

They are not the sole problem, but they sure as hell aren't helping.

True. Violent board games are almost as bad as the violent video games. Chess, for example, encourages Disney Princess addicted young girls to think that they'll be able to singlehandedly take out entire armies, once they get married!

[Jason]

I was being sarcastic. If you've ever played any video game featuring guns they teach you nothing of how to use them. You push a button to fire, push another to reload, and aim with your mouse or joypad.

What's more, these sorts of games are now being used to treat soldiers with PTSD and showing good results. Sort of runs contrary to the 'encouraging violence' suggestion. That and all the studies that have been done showing no correlation between the playing of violent video games and actual violence committed.

[Warren Dew]

"Large knives and cleavers are found in nearly every Chinese kitchen. Experts say that because the assailants haven't gotten hold of guns, strictly controlled in China, they have tended to go after victims who are the most vulnerable."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/13 ... k-20100513

Experts? Which experts, how are they qualified? Or is this just bollocks? Thought so.

The LA times article, from which that quote comes, mentions several people they seem to regard as experts. If you disagree on their qualifications, feel free to write them a letter.

[Warren Dew]

The price of the freedom to own machines which fire little pellets of alloy so fast they can kill people is that you tolerate those little pellets killing people at a level most of the world finds breathtakingly puzzling and staggeringly stupid.

Good point.

Governments should lead by example and destroy all their guns.

[Guy_Montag]

"Large knives and cleavers are found in nearly every Chinese kitchen. Experts say that because the assailants haven't gotten hold of guns, strictly controlled in China, they have tended to go after victims who are the most vulnerable."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/13 ... k-20100513

Experts? Which experts, how are they qualified? Or is this just bollocks? Thought so.

The LA times article, from which that quote comes, mentions several people they seem to regard as experts. If you disagree on their qualifications, feel free to write them a letter.

No, there is one expert interviewed & the quote isn't attributed to him or her as one would expect had they been the source.

It doesn't make it untrue, but it does make it shoddy journalism, (I'm not dissing the LA Times particularly, it's the rule rather than the exception for all media)

[JimC]

Mind you, anti-gun hysteria can reach absurd levels. Yesterday, a couple of rural secondary schools in Victoria sent a combined group of students to a local gun club, where they fired 20 gauge shotguns and .22 bolt action rifles at targets on the range, supervised by members of the gun club.

There was an uproar! The schools were vilified by a variety of anti-gun groups and child psychologists, partly for "insensitivity: since it was soon after the Connecticut massacre, partly because it's apparently unacceptable for teenagers to fire any sort of weapon...

For fuck's sake, these are country kids, they are all legal weapons in Victoria (if the guns are registered, and you have a shooter's license, of course), and it was supervised by experienced people.

I see no connection to the issue of controlling hand-guns and/or assault rifles; just a reflex reaction by the politically correct brigade...

See, I'm by no means at the looney liberal end of the gun/anti-gun spectrum!

Perhaps Seth isn't at the far end of the spectrum either -perhaps there exists in America gun-nuts who would consider him a soft, pinko liberal!

[tattuchu]

He was addicted to Call of Duty.

That's it. You got it. Violent video games teaching kids how to fire, reload, aim.. yep. That's the problem.

They are not the sole problem, but they sure as hell aren't helping.

I agree. And I'm an avid gamer, and I still agree. I think it would be absurd to say video games have no effect on a person. Everything has an effect on a person. The question is, how much of an effect and what kind of an effect? Certainly they have a positive effect, one would at least hope. If not, why play them at all? They're entertaining and enjoyable. But if they have a positive effect, then the opposite must also be true, that they may have a negative effect as well.
Video games are immersive. They're a virtual reality experience, and with graphics getting so hyper real, the experience seems, well, very real. If you're constantly playing games that glorify and reward violence, I don't think that's necessarily a positive thing.
It's not like playing violent video games will turn you into a murderer. It's not that simple. But I think they're part of the equation. They're part of a culture that glorifies guns and violence, and desensitizes us to death.
On a personal experience note, violent video games can make me very very angry I've been playing Grand Theft Auto. And I love the game. But holy Christ I get so angry frustrated and agitated playing it. If someone came to my door while I was playing it and asked me to keep the noise (swearing at my TV and such ) down, I don't know how I'd react in such a worked up state. "Fuck you!" I'd say. "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!" And if I had a real gun, I'd probably shoot them

[FBM]

Hmm. Most people who look at pr0n don't become rapists, but a few do. Most people who play violent games don't become murderers, but a few do. Most people who don't do either of those things don't become either rapists or murderers, but a few do. Pr0n and violent video games may act as catalysts, but I doubt it's accurate to put too much blame on them directly.

[tattuchu]

Hmm. Most people who look at pr0n don't become rapists, but a few do. Most people who play violent games don't become murderers, but a few do. Most people who don't do either of those things don't become either rapists or murderers, but a few do. Pr0n and violent video games may act as catalysts, but I doubt it's accurate to put too much blame on them directly.

Yeah, I woudn't go so far as to say there's a direct cause and effect. But I think there's an effect.
The porn analogy doesn't really work for me. Watching people have sex might make you horny and want to have sex, but forcing somebody to have sex is something else. How about if someone were to constantly watch violent rape porn? Do you think they'd be more inclined to rape or less inclined, or neither. Of course anybody watching violent rape porn constantly is a sick fuck to begin with But I can certainly see it having a desensitizing effect. Like, watch enough of that shit and it doesn't seem so bad or so strange anymore. After a fashion, it seems normal.

[FBM]

Yeah, that's it. Someone who specializes in rape pr0n came to that pr0n (har!) with a pre-existing issue. Maybe a few people start playing GTA because they really have a strong urge to do those things irl, whereas most people just want to play anarchist for a little while without actually having to leave the house.