Lawmaker Wants Gamers to "Quiet Down" While Bashing Them.

[Yukienesa]

Politicians railing against what they don't know as if they're the upmost authority on the subject?

Par for the course, really. Angry, yes. Surprised? Saw this coming from miles away.

[David2074]

Prince Ikari

Thank God I live in Virginia and not California. Contrary to what Yee says I have no lust for violence. I love first-person shooters like Halo but I am in no means a violent person. I just enjoy playing those types of games. The story-modes are interesting and the multiplayer brings my cousins and I together with something we can all agree is fun. But outside of the gaming world I am a 22 year old college student/college graduate with an avid interest in History and Political Science, with a degree in Computer Science. I have never fired a gun in the real world, and as polite and respectful as possible to those around me. I am very loving towards my girlfriend. I deplore real-world violence. So Yee is not saving me from some crazy violet self as he seems to be saying.

Yeah, the assumption seems to be that we can't tell the difference between a FPS and real life.
I think video games are easy to target because many older people are not into them. I notice you don't tend to hear the same comments about football, professional wrestling or any other contact sport. You don't hear people saying, "All school football should be stopped because those kids can't distinguish a game from real life and soon they will go to the mall and start tackling old ladies and slamming them into walls."

I do own guns in real life and I know how to use them. While I would use a gun on a person for self defense if I had to I have never even 'brandished' a gun at a person in my life let alone shot them. I have avoided many bad situations, I have defused some situations with talk and on a few rare occasions 'fixed' a situation by defending myself with my fists. In all of those cases I was the victim not the aggressor. Most people can enjoy a variety of things and still use common sense.

[Keltoi Samurai]

MisdreavusPrincess

Of course, the people that don't play video games must know everything about them.
And the people that play video games are just violent and know nothing about what they're doing.

Seems legit.

Kids already can't just go in somewhere and buy a rated M game (unless they're parents are cool, like my dad was. Like he cared about ratings XD) so I don't understand what the problem is other than the so called lawmakers trying to find a scapegoat instead of actually tackling the problem with mental health in this country.
Oh, right, then they might have to agree with Obama that everyone needs healthcare to get the mental health they might need and the good ol' GOP can't be having that!

the exact-same argument has been used on Gaia itself against gun owners in discussions of whether or not it's time to legislate away the Second Amendment, so I don't see why Gaians would get so upset that the same argument would now be used to keep gamers out of the discussion over video games.

[Annata Cannata]

Looks like they want every game to look like Desert Bus.

[King Shining Heaven]

Wow, so people who actually play the games have no credibility, but some congressman who does not does? I know plenty of people who play games and they would not hurt a fly

[Pawlas Cathena]

Let's try to legislate whatever hobbies this a*****e is into then tell him "Sorry but you have no credibility in this! Let us handle it" and see how he likes it. cat_scream

[Pessimist]

Super 9-Volt

Let's try to legislate whatever hobbies this a*****e is into then tell him "Sorry but you have no credibility in this! Let us handle it" and see how he likes it. cat_scream

Hmm. Golfing tax. Sounds good to me.

[Pawlas Cathena]

Pessimist

Super 9-Volt

Let's try to legislate whatever hobbies this a*****e is into then tell him "Sorry but you have no credibility in this! Let us handle it" and see how he likes it. cat_scream

Hmm. Golfing tax. Sounds good to me.

I don't know much about golf, but that alone makes me a better expert on it than the golfers themselves. emotion_awesome

[Askdlfrbfbfvbrbs]

Oh look lawmakers are butthurt, big news!!! lol

[Keltoi Samurai]

Super 9-Volt

Let's try to legislate whatever hobbies this a*****e is into then tell him "Sorry but you have no credibility in this! Let us handle it" and see how he likes it. cat_scream

it's entirely probable that the senator proposing this is in the pro-Second Amendment camp, and thus one of his hobbies may very well involve firearms, and in that discussion, that's exactly what those who are hunters or recreational or competitive shooters are being told.

so . . . yeah, too late.

[Prince Ikari]

David2074

Prince Ikari

Thank God I live in Virginia and not California. Contrary to what Yee says I have no lust for violence. I love first-person shooters like Halo but I am in no means a violent person. I just enjoy playing those types of games. The story-modes are interesting and the multiplayer brings my cousins and I together with something we can all agree is fun. But outside of the gaming world I am a 22 year old college student/college graduate with an avid interest in History and Political Science, with a degree in Computer Science. I have never fired a gun in the real world, and as polite and respectful as possible to those around me. I am very loving towards my girlfriend. I deplore real-world violence. So Yee is not saving me from some crazy violet self as he seems to be saying.

Yeah, the assumption seems to be that we can't tell the difference between a FPS and real life.
I think video games are easy to target because many older people are not into them. I notice you don't tend to hear the same comments about football, professional wrestling or any other contact sport. You don't hear people saying, "All school football should be stopped because those kids can't distinguish a game from real life and soon they will go to the mall and start tackling old ladies and slamming them into walls."

I do own guns in real life and I know how to use them. While I would use a gun on a person for self defense if I had to I have never even 'brandished' a gun at a person in my life let alone shot them. I have avoided many bad situations, I have defused some situations with talk and on a few rare occasions 'fixed' a situation by defending myself with my fists. In all of those cases I was the victim not the aggressor. Most people can enjoy a variety of things and still use common sense.

I agree. Video games are an easy scapegoat for blame when it comes to the violent acts in our society. I still have a hard time believing though that barely any who play video games with violence transmit that violence into the real world. There may be a few cases but all of the gamers I know know not to replicate what they see and do in video games. And the same when it comes to gun owners. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible, law-abiding members of society that do not go around shooting and killing people. A lot of the guns involved in murders are usually illegal ones involved with gangs or people with mental health problems. But there is no need to punish neither gamers nor gun owners because of a few rotten apples causing trouble.

[Snowy One Piece Lover]

I'm almost positive this politician is a butthurt guy whose parents didn't let him have a childhood.

Good thing I live in Texas...

[David2074]

Prince Ikari

David2074

Prince Ikari

Thank God I live in Virginia and not California. Contrary to what Yee says I have no lust for violence. I love first-person shooters like Halo but I am in no means a violent person. I just enjoy playing those types of games. The story-modes are interesting and the multiplayer brings my cousins and I together with something we can all agree is fun. But outside of the gaming world I am a 22 year old college student/college graduate with an avid interest in History and Political Science, with a degree in Computer Science. I have never fired a gun in the real world, and as polite and respectful as possible to those around me. I am very loving towards my girlfriend. I deplore real-world violence. So Yee is not saving me from some crazy violet self as he seems to be saying.

Yeah, the assumption seems to be that we can't tell the difference between a FPS and real life.
I think video games are easy to target because many older people are not into them. I notice you don't tend to hear the same comments about football, professional wrestling or any other contact sport. You don't hear people saying, "All school football should be stopped because those kids can't distinguish a game from real life and soon they will go to the mall and start tackling old ladies and slamming them into walls."

I do own guns in real life and I know how to use them. While I would use a gun on a person for self defense if I had to I have never even 'brandished' a gun at a person in my life let alone shot them. I have avoided many bad situations, I have defused some situations with talk and on a few rare occasions 'fixed' a situation by defending myself with my fists. In all of those cases I was the victim not the aggressor. Most people can enjoy a variety of things and still use common sense.

I agree. Video games are an easy scapegoat for blame when it comes to the violent acts in our society. I still have a hard time believing though that barely any who play video games with violence transmit that violence into the real world. There may be a few cases but all of the gamers I know know not to replicate what they see and do in video games. And the same when it comes to gun owners. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible, law-abiding members of society that do not go around shooting and killing people. A lot of the guns involved in murders are usually illegal ones involved with gangs or people with mental health problems. But there is no need to punish neither gamers nor gun owners because of a few rotten apples causing trouble.

I think it is a chicken and the egg thing and goes back to those logic sub-sets you learned in school. As in - it MIGHT be true that all mass murderers play violent video games (I really don't know) but that does not make it true that all people who play violent video games are mass murderers. The former is simply a subset of the latter.

It would not be surprising if people who are obsessed with death and cause death in real life also participate in fantasy death via violent games, violent movies and so on. Thus, a good many of them have probably played a video game and/or paintball and/or some other violent / death mimicking game prior to their killing spree.

On the other hand I find it oversimplified and convenient logic that if crazy killer dude says it was due to the game (or dresses like someone in the game) they are quick to take it at face value but if crazy dude blames something less easily believable like his dog told him to do it or it was due to the color his neighbor painted his house then they dismiss that as "well, he's a crazy killer so you can't take what he said at face value".

Similar and mildly related analogy - millions of drivers tolerate rush hour traffic every day but only a very tiny few flip out and succumb to road rage over it. You don't see people blaming the cars and saying to get rid of them just because a few nutsos go crazy in traffic. Instead of blaming the cars they recognize the mental instability of the attacker. But it's easier for people to hate on a game with pretend guns in it than to hate on the car they use to take them places.

[Eternal Marionetta]

David2074

Eternal Marionetta

Hi!
I'm a gamer!
Not only that, I am a 20-year-old high school graduate with honors and I am currently in college, majoring in theater.
I am not a violent, disobedient 13-year-old that you seem to think gamers are, Mr. Lawmaker. I am a responsible young woman who enjoys partaking in violent video games because they are an excellent stress reliever and they help me improve my reaction time. Yes, reaction is valuable in theater, because you have to be able to move/speak in a certain time.
While I agree that minors shouldn't be allowed to buy M-rated games without parents permission, completely prohibiting my access to games is absolutely unacceptable.
You seem to like to claim that you know best, when in fact, you are a simple monkey in a business suit, making oodles of money trying to pass laws that are against the First Amendment and will make us gamers angry.
Instead of trying to make us angry, Mr. Lawmaker, try making up laws that will actually be good for the community and people as a whole. Instead of singling us gamers out, how about you pass laws that will improve education or healthcare?
Or is that too hard for you?

Haha! You go girl! (do people still say that?)

I think. If they don't, you'll be the first to know. XD