Kentucky Governor Blames Video Games for Florida School Shooting

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
The governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, is blaming video games, as well as TV shows and music, for the school shooting at Parkland, FL. Calling them “garbage,” he says that video games are “forced down our throats under the guise of protected speech” and “have desensitized people to the value of human life.”

"They celebrate the slaughtering of people. There are games that literally replicate and give people the ability to score points for doing the very same thing that these students are doing inside of schools, where you get extra points for finishing someone off who's lying there begging for their life."
 
532d68761cfc1.jpg
 
i love killing people in video games nothing more enjoyable then a good head shot, been a gamer since i was 9 and im 45 now, a few years ago i bought a rifle, 22 long if i remember right, anyways i shot a bird with it and it made me feel sad, just want my thing, so i sold the rifle to a co worker that enjoys hunting. and i haven't owned a gun since.
but i put a virtual bullet between your eyes in heart beat and not give a second thought about it =P / Moral of the story is im not fucking crazy, cant people just be crazy still, why are games and media alwase the blame ? mortal kombat made me do it, no, your just fucking crazy

P.S Sounds like that guy is describing the game Hatred, mass slaughter and executing victims begging for there lives
 
i love killing people in video games nothing more enjoyable then a good head shot, been a gamer since i was 9 and im 45 now, a few years ago i bought a rifle, 22 long if i remember right, anyways i shot a bird with it and it made me feel sad, just want my thing, so i sold the rifle to a co worker that enjoys hunting. and i haven't owned a gun since.
but i put a virtual bullet between your eyes in heart beat and not give a second thought about it =P / Moral of the story is im not fucking crazy, cant people just be crazy still, why are games and media alwase the blame ? mortal kombat made me do it, no, your just fucking crazy

P.S Sounds like that guy is describing the game Hatred, mass slaughter and executing victims begging for there lives

Same experience for me... the "real thing" is actually pretty terrible. Shot a bird once - never again unless I'd actually need it to survive.
 
Yeah I bet those darn video games had way more to do with the shooting than both of his parents dying at a young age.

Typical politician skirting around the real issue once again.

Just to be clear I'm not defending the actions of this person one bit.
 
It's easy to jump on the video game bandwagon because the numbers really started to climb in the 70's when video games started coming out. But honestly the trend was beginning to climb in the 50's, long before video games. The 50's really were the beginning of a fundamental shift in our society and we seem to be seeing the results of that now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Madoc
like this
It's easy to jump on the video game bandwagon because the numbers really started to climb in the 70's when video games started coming out. But honestly the trend was beginning to climb in the 50's, long before video games. The 50's really were the beginning of a fundamental shift in our society and we seem to be seeing the results of that now.

But that would require critical thinking, which politicians aren't so good at.

Also, that's about the time big pharma started pushing pills down everyone's throats too, hmm.
 
I have no doubt that a few folks get pushed over the edge by too many video games. But they are the outliers that are going to be almost impossible to detect in any normal study. Probably are far more folks that don't do some actual violence because they can blow off steam running over hookers in some car race video game. When this governor was a kid, the big worry was likely how all of the violence in TV westerns or cop shows was adversely impacting kids his age.

I think several studies have found at least a correlation link between rising lead levels in the 50~70s and rising violence levels. Some of those studies have claimed that falling lead levels after it was banned in gas and paint was the reason why violent crime levels started to generally decline in the 90s forward. Not sure if a confirmed causal link was ever found.
 
So, did the Las Vegas shooter play video games? I mean, he played slot machines & card games, we should ban those too!

But be warned, remember what happened the last time card games were banned.
 
How silly.
In any case, there is no one reason behind this shooting. Instead, it is the culmination of multiple factors. A troubled man's mental issues ignored and left untreated, the threat he posed ignored by law enforcement, the soft easy peezy target a school offered, his ability to obtain the needed means to carry out his insanity, how society views and treats young adults as though they were children, we could go on and on, even including games as a contributor to the desensitization of the nut case killer to murder, but to claim video games was even the primary cause is grounds to have one's own sanity questioned as far as I am concerned.
 
im going to add we are not in a police state till he commits a overt act there is little any in law enforcement can do.

What laws did Nicolas Cruz break that should have prevented him from owning a gun in the State of Florida? We have a flow chart where the local PD was very active in dealing with this guy, but hey, it's the FBI's fault. Did any local PD decide to kick this up the chain to the FBI?
 
Last edited:
What game has people begging for their life and than gives you points for executing them?

To my knowledge, no school-shooting simulators have gotten traction.
 
What laws to Nicolas Cruz break that should have prevented him from owning a gun in the State of Florida? We have a flow chart where the local PD was very active in dealing with this guy, but hey, it's the FBI's fault. Did any local PD decide to kick this up the chain to the FBI?

Let me repeat this slowly till you commit an overt act or their is substantial evidence you are about to commit an overt act there is nothing law enforcement could do to stop you. at most their would of been an interview then as you have not committed an overt act and their was no evidence you were about to, you walk as they have no legal grounds to hold you.
 
"Shift the blame and the topic." - the NRA to all their puppets.

Wrench your chart conveniently misses the "Bought a gun legally due to lax background checks" box

Please explain to us how a gun magically kills people with out a person to pull the trigger? Should we start banning rocks & hammers?

The gun purchase is irrelevant. Society failed to protect itself, yet again.
 
Please explain to us how a gun magically kills people with out a person to pull the trigger? Should we start banning rocks & hammers?

The gun purchase is irrelevant. Society failed to protect itself, yet again.

then let them try to kill 17 people in under 30 min with rocks & hammers. if you are a law abiding gun owner so what you will have wait a lil more for your precious purchase and this inconvenience stops someone with a harmful intent from gaining access to a weapon. i do not see a problem?
 
Last edited:
Of course this reminds me of folks blaming suicides on music back in the '80s.

I listened to some pretty intense music back then, and I still do.

As most of you guys do, I play games that involve shooting and killing "others."

As a civilian I have never trained to kill others, desired to kill others, etc.


You just can't blame music and games. These damaged people will find a reason for what they do.
 
then let them try to kill 17 people in under 30 min with rocks & hammers. if you are a law abiding gun owner so what you will have wait a lil more for your precious purchase and this inconvenience stops someone with a harmful intent from gaining access to a weapon. i do not see a problem?

You missed the point completely. Inanimate objects don't kill people by themselves.

Here's the problem. People. People don't let others know of a unhinged person, people or (the FBI who received two calls) don't prevent said unhinged person from doing this. Its really a failure at the highest level.

Here's what happened,

This kid was diagnosed with Autism, he was made fun of at school (again, people the problem), both his parents died, his girlfriend cheated on him and broke up with him. So, given all that, the guy snapped and sought revenge on his former classmates. (Again, not defending him) but more people are at fault with this than just the kid that pulled the trigger.
 
Last edited:
You missed the point completely. Inanimate objects don't kill people by themselves.

Here's the problem. People. People don't let others know of a unhinged person, people or (the FBI who received two calls) don't prevent said unhinged person from doing this. Its really a failure at the highest level.

Here's what happened,

This kid was diagnosed with Autism, he was made fun of at school (again, people the problem), both his parents died, his girlfriend cheated on him and broke up with him. So, given all that, the guy snapped and sought revenge on his former classmates.

Let me repeat this slowly AGAIN till you commit an overt act or their is substantial evidence you are about to commit an overt act there is nothing law enforcement could do to stop you. at most their would of been an interview then as you have not committed an overt act and their was no evidence you were about to, you walk as they have no legal grounds to hold you.
 
Back
Top