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President Trump: 'We Have To Do Something' About Violent Video Games, Movies (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In a White House meeting held with lawmakers on the theme of school safety, President Donald Trump offered both a direct and vague call to action against violence in media by calling out video games and movies. "We have to do something about what [kids are] seeing and how they're seeing it," Trump said during the meeting. "And also video games. I'm hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is shaping more and more people's thoughts." Trump followed this statement by referencing "movies [that] come out that are so violent with the killing and everything else." He made a suggestion for keeping children from watching violent films: "Maybe they have to put a rating system for that." The MPAA's ratings board began adding specific disclaimers about sexual, drug, and violent content in all rated films in the year 2000, which can be found in small text in every MPAA rating box.
How about appropriately blaming the Police and FBI that ignored multiple blatant opportunities to catch that nutjob. Heck, he used his real name to threaten school shootings online, and one of his relatives called the FBI tip line in January.
There are violent movies and video games in other countries and they don't have the same issues with gun violence.
Never mind that numerous studies have been done showing that video games and movies don't have any impact on the behavior of normal, well-adjusted people, only people who already have mental illnesses or mental deficiences to start with, oh no! If Trump is going to ignore science on so many other issues then why the ever-loving fuck wouldn't he ignore the science on this issue, too? Anyone want to lay bets that Pence is as much behind this as possible, too?
"Maybe they have to put a rating system for that."
Uh, they have a rating system. Been in place for a long damn time now, not quite show how the hell Trump could have not known this.
If he's looking for more than that, there's an easy answer. It's called Parenting.
We're not going to regulate guns like we do cars. There's just no stomach for it. Even without the NRA money you've got millions of single issue voters.
I don't think folks have thought much about what an effective universal background check would look like. We can't just look at their criminal record. Most (all?) of these shooters didn't have one. We'd have to start looking at their mental health records (which would discourage anyone who likes guns from seeking help) and their social media posting. If we're going to go that far that means we have to have someone make decisions about who's allowed to have guns and who isn't. Are we going to do jury trials for every failed background check? Or are we going to have judges or maybe appointees (aka un-elected bureaucrats) make those decisions? How do I restore my gun rights after I've (effectively) lost them?
When you read that 97% of Americans support background checks nobody realizes there's a lot of variations in what a "background check" entails...
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Let's face it. You can blame guns for the violence but guns have been part of America's fabric for as long as it has existed. There's something unique to this era happening with the massive uptick in mass shootings. The FBI, Homeland Security and every other policing agency at the federal level should be studying this phenom and trying to figure out why and how to address it.
The last assault weapons ban established by Pres. Clinton in the 1990s, and which lasted for a decade, was widely studies and found to have zero effect on gun violence. That doesn't mean I think just anyone should be allowed to buy AR-15 and Kalashnikov-style assault weapons to defend themselves against the socialist horde.
And, this argument about addressing mental illness... yes, for healthcare's sake, not to prevent violence. People with a serious mental illness are 11 times more likely to be the victims of violence, i.e., suicide and attacks on the homeless, etc, rather than its perpetrators.
I'd prefer not simply accepting that "this is how things are now" and thinking we have to turn our schools into high security areas like airports. That's insane, and not something I feel we as Americans should accept. So let's get off the "arm-our-educators" bandwagon and look for real solutions instead of creating combat zones in school halls.
We absolutely must end the ability of people to pretend to kill others, whilst doing nothing to stop people being able to kill each other.
Because binary "you are being punished" or "you are not being punished" is coarse, stupid and was done away with a while ago. We recognize that serial DUI drivers don't ever deserve the freedom to not have an interlock that technically prevents (or at least inconvenience) drunk driving. We recognize that wife beaters should be forbidden from making contact with their wife after they get out. We recognize a need for a parole system that manages behavior while still allowing for some freedom.
I'm not saying every crime needs to have an inability to own a gun, but there are definitely some where that right should be forfeit forever.
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I don't know how things work in the US but most countries already have a system in place for doing assessments: driving tests, welfare assessments, social services, etc.
One thing that might be a start is that if you don't have a conviction but you do have lower-level things (e.g. violence on your school record, DVO/ASBO/whatever, maybe even "police were called" one too many times) you are on probation for N years and can't get a firearm, or perhaps can't get a firearm over a certain level of "power" (e.g. centrefire rifle, anything that holds more than two rounds/shells). The probation can be lifted by having an assessment.
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He probably just had a meeting with Pence or some other social conservative who wants government censorship of immoral content in games.
Sooner or later he'll get another meeting with an alt-righter concerned that the alt-right will be vulnerable to censorship and the idea will be forgotten.
The only policies that Trump follows through on are things that enrich him personally (pass through tax rate) and anti-immigrant measures. Everywhere else he does what the party wants, the best model is an establishment conservative without accountability.
I stole this Sig
Never mind that numerous studies have been done showing that video games and movies don't have any impact on the behavior of normal, well-adjusted people, only people who already have mental illnesses or mental deficiences to start with, oh no!
The same can be said for guns. Mental illness seems to be a recurring theme in these mass shootings, well the ones that are not terrorism related.
If Trump is going to ignore science on so many other issues then why the ever-loving fuck wouldn't he ignore the science on this issue, too?
Ignoring science in this debate is common on both sides. For example the AR-15 being no more lethal than other semiautomatic rifles that are not part of anyone's "assault weapon" list. Put a low capacity hunting magazine into an AR-15 and how is it different from the semiautomatic hunting rifles? Both sides are picking the respective scapegoats.
The real problem is likely in US social policy. We've had magazine fed semiautomatics for nearly a century. The civilian AR-15 for 50 years or so. Something changed, it wasn't the guns.
How about their voting rights? In Florida, there are 1.5 million people who are denied voting rights because they were convicted of felonies, even after they've served their sentences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
You are welcome on my lawn.
It will make it a hell of a lot harder for criminals to get guns. Over time, criminals will have less and less guns.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
All I can say is, it worked in Austrailia.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Guns are not the problem, culture is the problem. Every western nation defines health care as a right and gun ownership as a privilege, except the US who have it backwards. This is why the US is at then top of the list for gun violence and the bottom of the list for health care affordability and outcomes.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Just ask China
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-guns/chinese-paper-says-u-s-should-learn-from-china-restrict-guns-protect-rights-idUSKCN1G703W
Hahahahaa fucking rich! Slaughter and starve millions of their own Chinese citizens as they take guns away from the citizens. All for the great Communist revolution of course