LawMaker Blames Call of Duty for Mass Murders

[FusedMass]

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested at a hearing on Wednesday that violent video games can lead to real-world violence.

"There are too many video games that celebrate the mass killing of innocent people — games that despite attempts at industry self-regulation find their way into the hands of children," Grassley said at a Judiciary Committee hearing called to examine the causes of gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hok Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry self-regulatory group, already assigns age-based labels to video games, ranging from "C" for early childhood, "E" for everyone, "T" for teen, "M" for mature, and "AO" for adults only, but the system is entirely voluntary.

It is up to retailers to decide whether to sell violent or sexually explicit games to minors.
Grassley pointed to evidence that a mass killer in Norway had played the popular "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" game and had referred to the game as part of his "training simulation."

"Where is the artistic value in shooting innocent civilians?" Grassley asked.

President Obama and Vice President Biden have called for further studies to examine whether video games can lead people to commit acts of violence.

"I share Vice President Biden’s disbelief of manufacturer denials that these games have no effect on real-world violence," Grassley said.
Grassley's comments, which came in his opening statement, were some of the only mentions of violent video games during the hearing, which focused mostly on gun control proposals.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre has blamed vilent video games for contributing to gun violence in the past, but did not mention the issue in his opening remarks.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-va...mes-not-enough

Comments: There have been actual study's proving people living in low crime area with access to violent video games. In my humble point of view. A video game is just purely entertainment. Perhaps it's an escape from a stress full day. Or a community to interact with and just generally share stuff with. I cannot believe people are beating this dead horse.

That violent video games makes people want to commit murders. The average gamer knows if he commits murders he/she will not be playing any video games in jail and that alone is more then enough to make people not commit murders. I just don't get the reasoning behind blaming video games which is entertainment for murders.

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[Deleted]

Grassley pointed to evidence that a mass killer in Norway had played the popular "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" game and had referred to the game as part of his "training simulation."

Wasn't it originally World of Warcraft they tried to associate with that nutjob's murders?

Anyway. It's not the games at fault, it's quite obvious that you shouldn't imitate something violent you've witnessed in a game, it's just people.
The government just need to label the blame to something, and the gaming industry is once again the primary target.

It's not surprising people who have murdered play games such as Call of Duty. In this age who in a first world country hasn't played or seen Call of Duty?

TL ; DR The people who are committing these crimes are at fault, not games. It would take mental deficiency to imitate violence from within games to begin with, so blaming them is just ridiculous.

[unholytestament]

It's not the game industry's fault that kids are playing M rated games. Neglectful or ignorant parents are to blame.

[Belize]

Wasn't it originally World of Warcraft they tried to associate with that nutjob's murders?

No it was Mass Effect.

[Agoonga]

No it was Mass Effect.

He was talking about the Norwegian guy. They tried to blame Mass Effect because the Connecticut killer's brother liked it on facebook.

[Iceman2500]

I don't see how this is an issue; the senator can beat his chest all he wants, no legislation is going to come out of this. If by some miracle Congress actually does pass something, the judicial branch (which has a history of overturning laws dealing with this subject) says hi.

[Deleted]

Let's blame everything but the real cause. People with Mental problems.

[Deleted]

Sorry I meant Anders Breivik, not the Connecticut shootings

[Very Tired]

I'm guessing that "No Russian" mission didn't help at all.


But sometimes I honestly wish Call of Duty had a 17 age requirement after hearing some of the voices on it.

[Redlokyldoreifanggore]

I really wish that old SOB would leave my state. Bout as sick of him as I am of Representative King.

Video games are like movies. If the person watching/playing has such a weak mind that their perceptions of reality become distorted enough to drive them to be violent, then we have an epidemic of violent mentalities, not of cultural violence. What of the parents? They're the ones who buy these games or seem unwilling to explain the simple laws of existence to their kids. And what of the adults? Should their parents be blamed for allowing their fragile minds to get that out of control?

Video games are no more a problem than the access to guns. The fact that the NRA and Grassley are even trying to go there is going to do more harm than good for them than the makers and users of said games.

[Edge-]

Good response to these kinds of allegations. I like Sessler.

Also, any time there's a tragic act of violence, the first inclination is to search for something to scapegoat. Anything at all possible. I know in the 80's/early 90's music was frequently scapegoated.

It's nothing new. Politicians frequently speak at great length about topics they are completely uninformed on.

[Riidii]

What do they propose we do?

There is already a rating system that leaves it up to parents being responsible. Same goes for movies.

There is nothing more you can do at this point. Going to throw kids in juvey for playing M games or watching R movies?

Hopefully they aren't talking about censorship, because no one is down for that shit.

[Asmekiel]

Oh boy, here we go again. Can't those politicians at least try to educate themselves a bit on the subject before talking, it's not exactly rocket science.

[Edge-]

What do they propose we do?

There is already a rating system that leaves it up to parents being responsible. Same goes for movies.

There is nothing more you can do at this point. Going to throw kids in juvey for playing M games or watching R movies?

Hopefully they aren't talking about censorship, because no one is down for that shit.

The voluntary ESRB rating system isn't written into law, which is something they want (and I'm actually fine with since it's enforced pretty regularly now), without specifically stating the ESRB because I don't know if they know that it exists.

Primarily they're just looking to blame anything other than guns. Guns are a part of the problem, as are children who are playing video games unsupervised with no parental oversight as to the content, as mental health issues. It's a complex puzzle and they want to make it simple.

[unholytestament]

Also, any time there's a tragic act of violence, the first inclination is to search for something to scapegoat. Anything at all possible. I know in the 80's/early 90's music was frequently scapegoated.

I like looking back and reading about such things as parent groups declaring the likes of Elvis or the Beetles being the cause of the problems with youths.

[Razorice]

I just played an FPS game Now let me go outside shoot some people, get 25 kills, and call in a MOAB!

Seriously, media should stop blaming every single shooting on a video game. Fucked up people hurt other people, not video games.

[Deleted]

Anyone who commits mass murder/a murder is a lunatic in the first place. It doesn't matter whether they play CoD or knit jumpers in their spare time, they are mental.

[Asmekiel]

Why are we not blaming Donald Duck for this? It's not that rare to see a shooting in the comics, but nobody ever dies from that. Maybe all those people read the Donald Duck, saw nobody die after a shooting and thought that nobody would get hurt when they tried the same.

[Adam Jensen]

My god, these idiots just keep coming out of the weeds!

This is like the fifth old asshole politician to claim that video games cause violence and it's honestly getting old.

I wonder what new form of entertainment my generation will blame violence on. My parent's gen blames video games, theirs blamed rock 'n roll, the one before that, swing music . . .

Damn holodecks are making kids violence! Let me be the first of my generation to say it!

[FusedMass]

Here is a law maker saying Violent Video Games are more of a problem and commit more murders then Guns..