I've said before that if violent media and interactive entertainment was the sole cause of events like this, there would be much more incidents given how many people consume each medium. And wouldn't this be just a much a problem outside of the US if it was the case? There has also been no evidence of the two being linked together.
The thing that is the problem is these people have mental issues, like this case, and no one does anything about them. Several times when I hear similar things happen, someone knows that the killer was mentally unstable and yet did nothing about it.
No one wants to take responsibility so they just put the blame on something that isn't related to them. Interesting that the NRA not blame real guns but ones on the big screen or virtual ones and that the solution is more guns. I seriously don't know why we allow people like this to get so much power when the real problem is so obvious.
Morons, the whole lot of them.

Games seem to be blamed just because they are this new (ish, compared to books/movies) form of entertainment that's easy to point fingers at. I just really wish that they didn't get the flak they did-the gaming industry as a whole is wonderful, and has provided experiences that don't happen anywhere else. I know that I personally have been helped through life by video games, and I've read stories about people feel the same, and I think that's something important-games can save lives too.
Plus, there's still really no proof that games do actually cause violence-the list of studies that conclude that they do not is much higher than ones that say otherwise, but politicians and the media seem to think that one study, or just one person without any data to back up their opinion is true. Just because someone plays a violent game does not make them violent: do we need to ban movies also like Saw because of their grisly depictions of violence? No, we don't. Like the SC ruled, games are protected under the first amendment, and there's already the ESRB-it's a parents' fault if they buy violent video games for their kids.
I read a story about how some 7th grader is starting a "get rid of your violent video games" campaign because of Newtown, because it's disrespectful to those families-but this is illogical IMO. That new movie that just came out, Zero Dark Thirty...why isn't that getting flamed for dealing with Bin Laden, who was behind an attack much worse than Newtown.
I just really wish politicians and the media actually weren't radical...but that's life I guess.
And just, check on the MENTAL HEALTH of the shooter first...not their entertainment preferences...

It seems to me to be an attempt to push responsibility for this action away from a group that promotes gun ownership to one that is easily blamed for violence. Their assertions are insulting, and I feel that whatever the merits of gun control they have no ground to stand on in their accusations.

On one hand, it's just as ignorant to say games have nothing to do with violence as it is to say that they cause it.

But on the other hand, they don't have any more to do with it than any other experiences a person can have, and censoring them is just a really dumb thing to do, when that effort can be put into something useful.

The Sandy Hook shooting is, in fact, a tragedy.  However, the media focuses too much on scare tactics, choosing easily-blamed scapegoats like video games not unlike the Salem Witch trials of olden times.  

Video games, generally speaking, have not yet hit the same level of prestige that books, movies, and music have, and so violent images and concepts within those mediums are not chosen as scapegoats as the news networks would instantly have thousands of famous authors, actors, and singers rebuking them.  However, video games are easy to pick on; not many know who someone like Ken Levine is and will not hold his opinion in high regard.  Thus, the media should focus on the real sources of the problem instead of an arbitrary distraction engineered simply to drive mob mentality.

I've attended schools with armed security guards. It doesn't change anything and I think yes they should bring them to every school.

Videogames accusations are only being used as a distraction. The real problem are the gun laws. I don't give a flying rats ass about peoples entitlement or how they feel they have the right to possess a automatic weapon, ban them. You'll only sound like an idiot defending that old amendment.


It'll take one patient dedicated motherf*cker to take down 20 kids with a butter knife.

As a gamer I have had enough of these ridiculous assertions that video games are in any way responsible for these reprehensible acts of violence. I am 34 and have been gaming since I was about 7. I wouldn't hurt a fly. Mental illness is the real issue in these cases. We need to get better as a society in identifying and treating it. But that's a much harder issue for people to deal with. It's much easier to try and point the finger at something like games, movies, and music. In the 50's there were congressional hearings on wether or not comic books were responsible for juvenile delinquency. Obviously looking back on that now it's utterly ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as it is to blame video games now.

If violet media was the cause of stuff like this, more stuff like this would be happening in other western nations, not just the United States. They are just trying to shift the blame from their lobbying for more relaxed gun laws to an easy scapegoat.

EDIT: Look at Japan: Their populace is just as emerged in games as we are, yet they don't have inordinate amounts of crime. Also, their gun laws are quite restrictive, and they only had 11 deaths from guns in the past year.

Heathens! Burn them!

EDIT: So on a more serious note, everyone thinks they know the root of all evil. The truth is (in my opinion) that sociopaths exist and sometimes things happen that don't make sense. Trying to make sense of it is fine, but not at the cost of other people's happiness.

you know what? screw you NRA. I was actually on your side, as I believed the more prevalent issue that arised from this tragedy was that of mental health, and not gun control. After reading about how completely STUPID you are, maybe i'll change my mind. If you let stupid people get their hands on guns, they'll do dumb s**t.

Unbelievable. Look outside your little box once in a while, and give these issues the respect they deserve. stop blaming the first thing you can think of

They are panicking. This is a mental health issue.

First of all, saying we should have armed guards in schools makes them sound like a bunch of nutjobs. Secondly, it's painfully obvious that they're trying to shift blame on to something other than guns (as if that's possible). Thirdly, there's not enough evidence to back up their claims. Finally, these guys are crazy for suggesting that the answer to school shootings is to put more guns in schools. Did I already say that? It's just so stupid I felt I needed to repeat it.

As an employee of a, "callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against its own people". I didn't take kindly to his words.

His behavior further encourages the mob mentality to quickly pin blame and harshly condemn people without rational thought or inquiry. We should not abide this behavior from anyone.

Also the NRA has their names stamped to a shooter called NRA Varmint Killer. So he's also a fatty hypocrite.

Honestly I think the NRA are just trying to pass on the blame to anything or anyone that they can find. The real problem was that the shooter was mentally ill. Also I'm not sure how I would feel about armed guards being at schools.

I can't decide between screaming or laughing at the irony. The NRA even released a videogame at one point.

The violent media excuse/distraction is getting VERY old. I'm living proof that Violent media isn't the cause. I have mental illnesses, guns in my house, and I have been playing M rated games since I was 6 or 7. In my 22 years of life, I can honestly say I have never gone on a suburban rampage, nor do I plan to.

Guns are just tools! When someone gets hit by a car, we don't blame or attempt to ban cars. Nail the idiot Mother to failed to keep her firearms locked up properly!

What do you think about the NRA’s assertion that there’s a link between violent media and real-life violence? My father was violent. Pulled a gun on me more than once growing up. The first time was when I was 10. What a nutjob. He never watched tv and hated games and movies. Blamed these things for our "societal problems". Also, had a neighbor that did not even have a tv and did not want one. He also was a gun nut. The guy actually built a bunker and had an MG for it. I was asked by this person to help buy a rocket launcher. Nice guy really, but a little off. Always telling me that the games I played would corrupt me. I have meet many people that are what I would describe as "gun crazy". I own a few myself but understand that there is some need to regulate how guns are obtained. And there are just some guns that are not meant for general sale. Another thing that influences me here is a situation that happened some years ago. A neighbor not far from me had a get together. In said get together a family member discharged a gun. He was killed by another family member when he "reacted to the shot before thinking". The shooter and the rest of the family are now torn apart. What are your thoughts on their proposed plan to put more armed personnel in schools? It could work. At one of the local schools they have an on-duty police officer at the school in the morning. The issue is who pays for this. People already complain about every last tax dollar they have to pay. I now quite a few people who use public funded services (not welfare, etc.) but complain they have to pay. They do everything they can to get a refund. Nothing wrong with that but you know they would implode if they had to pay something to cover the cost of an armed officer at their kids schools.

Jeffrey Doehmer didn't play games.  Evil will commit evil no matter what and we can't stop it.  Trying to through restriction and legislation only further hurts the innocent.  I'm sure these cowards that commit these shootings also had other hobbies as well but you don't see any talk about things like "the dangers of building Lego warships" or "the fostering of creative destruction through rocket building".  Older policy makers can't relate to video games and view them as destroyers of productivity.  While this is legitimately  debatable, its far from encouraging acts of major violence.  This debate has come up several times in my life and it never picks up traction.

im neutral
I think that its possible for some violent video games can influence people, such as GTA, but games like mortal combat and even Cod wouldn't provoke people to violent acts such as this. Because games are meant to entertain people and almost every game i have ever played, your always the good guy. and your usually killing something other than people, and if you can't tell the difference between real people and zombies, alien, natzis,Etc. you have a problem.

And many shooting like this are usually hate crimes or like this one, a mental illness. and if thats the case, then the politics have no proof of video game influence, cause Video game developers are forced to respect things like religion and race in there video games.

And if anything should be blamed for provoking violence, it should be that retarded gangster Rap, the only thing they talk about is shooting people in the ghrtto.