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Video Game Industry Starting To Feel Heat On Gun Massacres

Posted by samzenpus on from the put-down-the-controller dept.

An anonymous reader writes "While much of the scrutiny following the lone gunman-perpetrated massacres at Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT has fallen on the National Rifle Association and its lobbying efforts against gun control, the shooters in both of the aforementioned incidents seemed to have been encouraged by violence in movies and video games. The New York Daily News' Mike Lupica reported last week that investigators of the Newtown case found a huge spreadsheet in the Lanza home where 20-year old Adam Lanza had methodically charted hundreds of past gun massacres, including the number of people killed and the make and model of weapons used. A Connecticut policeman told Lupica 'it sounded like a doctoral thesis, that was the quality of the research', and added, '[Mass killers such as Lanza] don't believe this was just a spreadsheet. They believe it was a score sheet. This was the work of a video gamer'. In response, the Entertainment Software Association and other lobbyists representing the video game industry have ramped up their Washington lobbying efforts. While still tiny in dollar terms next to the NRA's warchest, this effort seemed to help derail a proposal to fund a Justice Department study of the effects of video games on gun violence, offered as an amendment on the gun control bill by a Republican senator. A spokesman summarized the ESA's position: 'Extensive research has already been conducted and found no connection between media and real-life violence.'"

7 of 1,006 comments (clear)

  1. Guns don't kill people ... by SSpade · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... spreadsheets kill people.

    Ban Excel!

  2. Re:Another one bites the dust? (well, not yet) by swanzilla · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft Excel?

    --
    0 = 1 + e^(Alt something)
  3. I can't keep my kids from being killed by guns... by tutufan · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...but at least I can keep them from being virtually killed by virtual guns.

  4. that is going to far by nten · · Score: 4, Funny

    I propose a 7 macro limit.

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    refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.
  5. Re:The Stupidity, It Hurts! by PhxBlue · · Score: 4, Funny

    When someone goes into a school and kills 20 children with copies of "Grand Theft Auto," call me.

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    !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  6. Smart cop? by vvaduva · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think I have a problem with a cop's ability to judge the quality of research as "PhD quality."

  7. Re:The Stupidity, It Hurts! by xhrit · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh, there were no planes filled to the brim with jet fuel or high buildings used in that attack?

    You gun nuts take logic and cast it off at the first possible point during an argument.

    So you are saying the logical thing to do would be to ban jet fuel and high buildings too?

    --
    Dungeon Tactics : Free Open Source SRPG