#dontblamethegame | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nickolisantiago · 7 years ago

Text

First Person Shooters

What we can’t do now is ban the consoles. Let��s just say that first.

Leave it to another white male, caught up in his privilege and comfort, to gun down others in an act of vile hate that leaves others dead. It’s a Sunday night as I type this, and at least 2 people (3 if you count the shooter) are dead as a result of a gunman firing rounds into the chests of gamers at a Florida riverfront gaming tournament. Friends and supporters gathered around to watch others play Madden, yet fearfully fled for their lives as a live Twitch stream recorded the event and the screams. If you haven’t heard the news, take a look at what The New York Times had to say.

I already know how this is going to go. “This wouldn’t have happened if the guy wasn’t motivated by the remote he held a mere few minutes before. The games create the rage. We know that people who play games are more likely to become shooters.” Etc. Etc. Etc.

It’s all bullshit.

I’m going to catch this one early, for the conservatives who decide to use this as a symbolic rallying cry against gamers in an effort to take the blame away from their NRA-stocked pocketbooks. This violence is not CAUSED by video games. Rather, the violence is a reflection of someone who happened to BE a gamer but suffered from a gun-obsessed culture that values weaponry and “rights to bearing arms” over the right to live.

Go ahead. Tell me I’m wrong, and watch as an army from of the court of popular opinion shoves your own insanity down your throat. I’ll wait.

Or better yet, I won’t. Because I want you to see how wrong you are for thinking this event can be spun into tomorrow’s attack on video game culture.

Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane, from an article brought to us by the writers over at “Futurism.” Quoted:

The consensus is that aggressive or violent behavior tends to result from the accumulation of various risk factors. Violent media can contribute to those risk factors, but to claim that they are the root cause of behaviors like mass shootings is a major oversimplification. And there is still no evidence that violent video games cause children to purchase AR-15 assault rifles and shoot up their former high schools like it’s “Call of Duty” brought to life.

The irony, of course, of reviving the “violent video games precipitate violent behavior” debate, is that Congress actually doesn’t allow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from studying gun violence as a public health issue. Under what’s known as the “Dickey Amendment,” passed 22 years ago, the CDC can’t fund gun-related research or use money to “advocate or promote gun control.”

Yes. You read that right. While the video game industry - and gamers as a whole - continue to come under fire for the actions of others, the CDC is prevented from doing effective research on the subject of gun violence.

So to all you gun-loving hypocrites that continue to say “this is more of a mental health issue than a gun issue,” I urge you to grow the fuck up and call your Congressman. Tell them the Dickey Amendment is a load of bull.

Because if you TRULY believe that mental health is the cause for gun violence, and not the copious amount of unmarked guns sold and distributed at an alarming and uncontrolled rate, then you should have no problem with the Center for Disease control studying gun violence as it pertains to public health.

Do me a favor. If you’re ready to stop this bullshit head-on, share this with your friends and fellow gamers. Tell them you won’t take the blame for the Republicans and conservatives who will (with no shame) use the gaming industry and its members as a scapegoat for violent crime. They’ll tell you you can’t blame the gun for the shooting, but they’ll tell you your Xbox caused all of this.

If this truly is a health concern, let us research it. And if it’s not, let’s start regulating weapons better. Needless to say, asshats like this gunman should be brought to justice. And the Congressmen who allow their crimes to continue - by not checking the powers of gun enthusiasts and not allowing the CDC to conduct proper research - should be put in check.

#congress #resetting #resetcongress #gameover #gamersunited #dontblamethegame #blameyourself #gaming #gun violence #florida #politics #mentalhealth #nra #cdc #united states #futurism #new york times

3 notes · View notes