Guns and ammo: When put together, they create controversy and ruin lives. In the far right corner, we have the “you can pry this out of my cold, dead hands” types. And in the far left corner we have the peace sign-wearing progressives protesting for guns to be made illegal. It seems like there is absolutely nothing on which the two groups can agree, but I would hope they have at least one thing in common — they want gun violence to end.
Let’s face it, gun violence is a problem. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, firearms aided in the killing of 31,076 Americans in 2010. Both sides of the political spectrum need to forget their differences and work together to find a realistic solution to gun violence.
As much as I would love to rewind time and stop the first gun from being made, I can’t. Guns are everywhere and even if they are taken off the legal market, there is a strong possibility that people will find ways to get them. Drafting water-tight laws to limit the number of guns is complicated, and there are no guarantees that tampering with the current ones will result in any progress. Altering the environment in which these criminals live in, though, is feasible.
Ever since Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, we have recorded that violent acts committed by children can be initiated by watching adults commit those same violent acts.
According to Mediaviolence.org, for every 10 minutes of playing video or computer games, boys between the ages of 8 and 18 will see between two and 124 acts of violence. In video games rated as ‘T’ (teen) or ‘M’ (mature), players will see more than 180 violent acts every 40 minutes, or 5,400 violent acts per month, if they play daily. In 98 percent of games, the acts the player commits are unpunished. Rather, in more than half of video games the perpetrators of violence are rewarded.
I wonder where these kids are getting it from?
Current video games like Call of Duty, Gears of War, Mortal Kombat, MadWorld and Grand Theft Auto display common themes of violence for a reward. One moves to the next level or gains more points when they complete a kill. Killing is good in the realms of these games, and it can be easy to get wrapped up in them — allowing “realities” of the games to creep into the real life.
The men who opened fire at Columbine High School and in the movie theatre in Colorado were both heavy gamers and there is no doubt that killing sprees were depicted in the games they were playing.
To the young kids who are playing these violent games on a regular basis, killing is normal and blood and gore is funny. The desensitization levels regarding guns are at an all-time high. “Danger and “cool” have become synonymous.
But, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right? Well, people have been hurt and killed — so maybe the “fun and games” needs to be reevaluated.
