Media Continues To Beat Wrong Horse

[Telefrog]

Shooting rampages are nothing new. It seems every few months we get to see reports of some pathetic loser shooting up a town or school because they can't hack it. Shocking random violence is difficult to accept, so we look for causation. Unfortunately, it seems the media likes a particular scapegoat - video games.

The investigation after the recent shootings in Germany (http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/12/germany.school.shooting.women/index.html) have turned up this tidbit:

Police said Thursday that 15 guns had been found at the killer's home and violent video games. The guns belonged to Kretschmer's father, who was a gun club member.

Bolding mine. Why do we constantly see this retarded detail reported after a shooting spree? Does the media point out what kind of books or DVDs the killer had?

[total]

Does the media point out what kind of books or DVDs the killer had?

Ummm...most likely because he only watched Disney movies and read nothing but Dr. Seuss. Video games kill yo, I thought we had all figured that out by now.

[DoctorFinger]

Doesn't Germany ban most really violent games? And yet they still have shootings.

[menage]

Doesn't Germany ban most really violent games? And yet they still have shootings.

This.

Also, you can't shoot people without a gun.

[quidmonkey]

Bolding mine. Why do we constantly see this retarded detail reported after a shooting spree? Does the media point out what kind of books or DVDs the killer had?

This must mean that books & DVDs have zero societal impact, and hence, couldn't possibly be art. Therefore, GAMES ARE ART LULZ!!!

[Telefrog]

And don't get me wrong. I understand the basic concepts in criminal psychological profiling. If they went into a spree killers bedroom and found violent video games, copies of Scarface, Hostel, Natural Born Killers, and Resevoir Dogs, along with hardcore rape porn, The Anarchist's Cookbook, Turner Diaries, and a collection of guns and knives, then I could totally understand the investigators' noting it for future study. Each element by itself means nothing, but taken together with a shooting spree or serial murder certainly is worth a bit of profiling.

What iks me is the media (and the public's) knee-jerk over the one detail. To them, violent video games are becoming synonymous with murderer training.

[National Kato]

Surely, it's not the guns he had access to. Surely.

[quidmonkey]

It's obvious the killer didn't teabag the victim enough. Maybe if he had Nazi tattoos. And a Hitler stache.

[DoctorFinger]

Surely, it's not the guns he had access to. Surely.Germany also has some really restrictive gun laws too.

[Dark Prince]

Germany also has some really restrictive gun laws too.

Apparently they don't apply to the father who was a gun club member.

If they did have those restrictive laws, I still don't get how the kid was able to get access to those guns in the first place, especially since the guns were at his home.

[Cavalier]

Germany also has some really restrictive gun laws too.

Doesn't sound very restrictive if the dad had 15 guns lying around.

[Bingley Joe]

The biggest problem I see with all of these news reports is that the stupid media continues to insist on printing the names and photographs of these fuckwads, thus validating their insane cries for attention and celebrity.

They really need to change their approach and just print "Violent imbecile goes on shooting spree".

Instead, media bloodlust means that we get the names of these morons imprinted into our collective consciousness via the incessant repetition of these stories, and no one ever remembers the names of the victims except their families. Pretty fucked up if you ask me.

[Generation ABXY]

Also, you can't shoot people without a gun.

The bow says, "Hi." :p

[JayK47]

Yeah, because is he didn't have access to guns he would have said, "oh well, perhaps another day". Nice. You make it sound like the guns egged him on or he couldn't have killed any other way. If your going to say "violent video games didn't do it", you sure as hell better stay away from the guns. Stick with bad parenting or just plain retardation please. No normal person does this shit. It takes a sick fuck. Guns or no guns, games or no games.

[menage]

The bow says, "Hi." :p

I lolled:D

[J Arcane]

Surely, it's not the guns he had access to. Surely.
Those mean old guns, making him go kill people with them. We should lock them up instead.

[Lekon]

The bow says, "Hi." :p

No, the bow says "twaaaaang!"

I always loved countering the 'GAMES MADE HIM DO IT!" argument with "huh.. so before video games there were no murderers, serial killers or unexplained psychos?

[Mr. Murphy]

Those mean old guns, making him go kill people with them. We should lock them up instead.

Well yeah, those guns should have been locked up.

I'm pro-gun, but every moment between "I want to kill those people!" and "Now I'm holding a gun!" is a moment that he could have been stopped or something could have changed. Giving mentally unstable or poorly parented people easy access to guns is a bad idea. Guns belong in locked gun-safes or gun-cases when they are not in use, period.

[J Arcane]

Well yeah, those guns should have been locked up.

I'm pro-gun, but every moment between "I want to kill those people!" and "Now I'm holding a gun!" is a moment that he could have been stopped or something could have changed. Giving mentally unstable or poorly parented people easy access to guns is a bad idea. Guns belong in locked gun-safes or gun-cases when they are not in use, period.
Well, 1) I was being facetious, and 2) I meant "locked up" in the sense of "imprisoned" or more appropriately "banned".

I concur with your wisdom there, though from what I've seen of incidents like this I'm not sure the odds of it actually having prevented something like this are terribly high. Someone this determined will find a way in. Still, better safe than sorry.

[Whunpo]

Yeah, because is he didn't have access to guns he would have said, "oh well, perhaps another day". Nice. You make it sound like the guns egged him on or he couldn't have killed any other way. If your going to say "violent video games didn't do it", you sure as hell better stay away from the guns. Stick with bad parenting or just plain retardation please. No normal person does this shit. It takes a sick fuck. Guns or no guns, games or no games.
That sounds about right.
No, the guns didn't egg him on. And having easy access didn't make him do it. It just made it a hell of a lot more possible. Sure, he still might have found a gun another way, but having 15 guns in the house sure as hell didn't prevent this shooting.

[J Arcane]

That sounds about right.
No, the guns didn't egg him on. And having easy access didn't make him do it. It just made it a hell of a lot more possible. Sure, he still might have found a gun another way, but having 15 guns in the house sure as hell didn't prevent this shooting.
"Hmm. I'm hungry, I think I'll make a sandwich."

"Oh, there's no bread. I guess I just won't eat then."

[Widgetcraft]

Everyone loves to blame inanimate objects for murder, as long as they aren't the objects they need or care about.

[tombofsoldier]

This.

Also, you can't shoot people without a gun.

With MIND BULLETS! you can.

[ShivaX]

With MIND BULLETS! you can.

Or an air compressor.

[civil]

Or an air compressor.
Or a can of beans and a well-placed funnel.

[menage]

Or a can of beans and a well-placed funnel.

Creative bunch here I see.

[Wolvie]

I love how the mainstream media gets an idea in their head, and won't let go no matter how much common sense should tell them otherwise. They are like an old man, set in his ways and refusing to change. Both are sad and pitiable at the same time.

And I agree with anyone who said that it's unfair that the games in his collection get singled out, yet none of his books DVD's and music CD's get mentioned. At any rate, video games is the new hip-hop. A baseless scapegoat that gets pummeled because ignorant people can't handle the truth. Also, water is wet.

[Whunpo]

"Hmm. I'm hungry, I think I'll make a sandwich."

"Oh, there's no bread. I guess I just won't eat then."

That's not what I said at all. To use your analogy:
"Hmm. I'm hungry, I think I'll make a sandwich."
"Oh, there's no bread. I guess I'll find some bread another way"
This is where gun control comes into play.

[Hotcod]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/correlation.png

There will likely be a correlation bettwen some one who commits an act like this and who comsumes violent media. Now the problem is that people jump on the idea that the media caused the the act rather than the fact a person who would commit such an act is going to be drawn to that kind of media. Never mind that 99.99% of the people who play these kind of games don't go out killing people...

As for the gun thing... no not having a gun wouldn't have stopped him going out to kill people but the gun makes the act far worse than it might have other wise been. It's very hard to kill the same number of people doing it was a sword or some such than it is with a gun. As i said in the gun thread here gun control is not about reducing crime but reducing gun crime which is a very big distiction in my eyes. Guns only fuction is to kill things and they do it far more effectivly than almost anything else that people can get there hands on

[Narradisall]

I saw an article where they went on about this shooting and the violent videogames (showing Counterstrike on the screen at the time) and asked fellow students whether they thought the games made him do it. They all said no.

All I could think was, it definatly wasn't counterstrike as there was no reports of him shouting 'fag' and 'lulz' or bunnyhopping.

[zarathstra]

I saw an article where they went on about this shooting and the violent videogames (showing Counterstrike on the screen at the time) and asked fellow students whether they thought the games made him do it. They all said no.

All I could think was, it definatly wasn't counterstrike as there was no reports of him shouting 'fag' and 'lulz' or bunnyhopping.

Or wildly hitting R to try and reload his gun.

[Variable Gear]

Bolding mine. Why do we constantly see this retarded detail reported after a shooting spree? Does the media point out what kind of books or DVDs the killer had?
Part of being a successful media company is making money. A lot of stupid people are holding on to money and they also have a lot of time to watch TV ads. Therefore, the media, to a large degree, bows to the masses, much as the gaming press does to the average hardcore gamer, as opposed to seeking out beings that have some significant level of intelligence.

[Spockrocket]

I like when people call video games "murder simulators" or something similar. It allows me to say "Oh yes, because there's no way a horribly bullied loner with no sense of self-worth, sociopathic tendencies, and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness would ever try to hurt someone unless they've played a video game before."

Srsly. The mainstream media needs someone with some brains writing for them.

There was nearly a shooting at my high school last year. Yeah, the kid responsible played violent games, but he was also highly delusional, had several behavioral disorders, and was an honest-to-Fuhrer Neo Nazi. Guess which parts concerned me?

[pronounconnoun]

with mind bullets! You can.

That's telekinesis, Kyle!

[bean]

The bow says, "Hi." :p
Alright, but if some sexually repressed, insane guy showed up at your school with a bow and started taking out people, wouldn't you kick his ass during the FIRST reload?

Even if he brought wrist crossbows, and was an expert archer with the ability to redraw and fire every two seconds, there is a huge window in between to distract and approach if he is within 20 yards of you, and if he is further out you could simply run out of range.

[Ancalagon]

Alright, but if some sexually repressed, insane guy showed up at your school with a bow and started taking out people, wouldn't you kick his ass during the FIRST reload?

Even if he brought wrist crossbows, and was an expert archer with the ability to redraw and fire every two seconds, there is a huge window in between to distract and approach if he is within 20 yards of you, and if he is further out you could simply run out of range.

But what if he has the rapid shot feat and is carrying a long sword for melee combat? And you dont have any more spells memorized?

The thing is, the mainstream media needs scapegoats. They need blame. SOMEONE is responsible, and its not the individual, nor is it his parents, nor is it the society that hates him for being different. So it has to be someone else, and that someone else is currently games.

EDIT: Sad thing is, if video games were really the culprits, stereotyping and judging people who play games is going to do anything but help. Can you imagine some... well misinformed person reading this and thinking "My son Joe is friends with that guy who owns a SeXBox and Mass Effect, they wont be friends anymore after this." Now Joe thinks you hate him and dont understand him, great going.

[zarathstra]

Alright, but if some sexually repressed, insane guy showed up at your school with a bow and started taking out people, wouldn't you kick his ass during the FIRST reload?

Even if he brought wrist crossbows, and was an expert archer with the ability to redraw and fire every two seconds, there is a huge window in between to distract and approach if he is within 20 yards of you, and if he is further out you could simply run out of range.

The LONGBOW says hi. Somehow, I don't think you're going to be running 80 yards in a couple seconds.

Do guns make violence extremely easy? Yes. Are guns more destructive than other options? Yes. Are they the only option? No.

Hell, anyone can stab, It takes at least a modicum of knowledge to use a gun. I myself have no frakking clue how to load or deactivate the safety on a gun. I've never fired one. I could probably figure it out given enough time, but a knife is pretty intuitive.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Fun fact: Every serial killer in the last 100 years owned at least one pair of pants. The correlation is undeniable.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Hell, anyone can stab, It takes at least a modicum of knowledge to use a gun. I myself have no frakking clue how to load or deactivate the safety on a gun. I've never fired one. I could probably figure it out given enough time, but a knife is pretty intuitive.
What about the combination?

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/theflyingorc/PunisherPage200000.jpg

[Ancalagon]

Fun fact: Every serial killer in the last 100 years owned at least one pair of pants. The correlation is undeniable.

They were also mostly male. Solution: Mass suicide.

I'll go last guys, you go ahead. I'll make sure there arent any stragglers.