The NRA had been unusually silent after the shooting in Newtown, CT. Their twitter feed had nothing to say about the shooting and their Facebook page actually disappeared for some time. Obviously in the wake of the shooting, a group like the NRA is going to take a lot of flack for their support of limiting gun regulations as much as possible. The group announced recently that this Friday they would have a press conference and would make a huge announcement about starting a "serious conversation".
What happened instead was the complete opposite. The NRA's big solution to prevent further tragedies like those in Newtown is to put armed guards in every school across the country. That means every single elementary, middle, and high school. The NRA also proposes that Congress appropriate the money for this venture. That's not a solution, that's using this tragedy to further their own agenda.
The NRA seems to believe that these people who are sick enough to go shooting up these schools will somehow not be sick enough to prepare for the armed guards they will face at these schools if they decide to go through with it. The NRA's so-called "solution" is rather a matter of escalation. The people who wish to commit these school shootings will simply find themselves bigger and stronger guns in order to kill as many people as possible. The NRA also decided to take no questions at the end of their "press conference". It's not really a press conference if they don't take any questions, but that's beside the point.
I wish someone was able to ask them who would be to blame if one of the armed guards kills a student at one of these schools. Would it be violent video games then? Would the NRA take blame for creating a situation that eventually led to such an event? I'm highly doubtful of that.
I will be the first to admit that I find myself often fairly conservative on the issue of gun control compared to my friends. However even the most ardent gun advocate can see the massive flaws in the NRA's plan. 4 million members or not as a group, this so-called "solution" by the NRA should be booed out of the conversation.
It's even more ludicrous that the NRA blamed everyone under the sun for the shooting at Newtown except of course guns and guns lobbyists. If perhaps the NRA came out and admitted that there could be some sort of compromise then perhaps they could be taken seriously. Instead, we get these inane ideas that will only make things worse. Furthermore, they go on to blame things like violent video games that help contribute to these kind of shootings. I like to think I covered in my piece yesterday why that theory is completely wrong.
The NRA could have been part of the serious conversation about making real changes in order to prevent further shootings like at Newtown. Instead, they made a sales pitch. I hope that the actual adults in the room will be able to focus on advocating for more funding for mental health programs among other solutions. This includes taking a look at our gun control laws and finding a balance between protecting the rights of gun owners while making regulations that will protect those who simply can't protect themselves.
Showing posts with label Newtown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newtown. Show all posts
Friday, December 21, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Same Old Song and Dance: Banning Video Games
The unfortunate tragedy in Newtown has seen a large number of people on both sides of the political spectrum attempt to further their own agenda in the aftermath. The politicians on both sides understand full well that it's easier to try and blame one particular thing for the shooting instead of coming up with any real solutions. United States Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, was recently interviewed by West Virginia Metronews and said "Look at Grand Theft Auto, put out by Rockstar Games in New York City and see what it promotes." He later added, “Shouldn’t that be looked into and maybe be banned?” This coming from the same guy who said earlier in the interview "I'm not supporting a ban on anything."
After every major shooting involving a school, the idea of banning certain video games always is drummed up by certain people. They seem to believe that it's these games fault that a school shooting occurred instead of perhaps better mental health programs or better gun control laws. It's worth noting that we have absolutely no idea if the killer from Newtown even played Grand Theft Auto or even video games at all. However, that did not stop Senator Manchin from jumping to a conclusion about what needs to be done.
If video games were the root cause or at least a contributing factor to this gruesome violence then why are we not seeing this occur more often? After all, there are millions of teenage boys and girls that play video games. The Call of Duty franchise is the top-selling video game franchise year after year. It would be safe to assume in that case that the violent crime rate is spiraling out of control as we have a national pandemic on our hands. Except, we don't.
The violent crime rate in this country has actually been steadily decreasing since 1991. In fact, violent crime in the United States is currently at the same level it was in 1973. The opposite of what should be occurring due to the amount of violent video games being played if you follow the logic of those who would like to see them banned.
It's also worth noting that the majority of the rest of the world have all these same video games. Games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are played all over the world. So if video games are a contributing factor at the very least to all these shootings then why are not also occurring on the scale they are in the United States?
What we need in this country to prevent tragedies like Newtown from occurring again elsewhere are real solutions. Banning video games in order to stop more shootings is not a real solution. It's an attempt to implement censorship by using tragedies as justification.
After every major shooting involving a school, the idea of banning certain video games always is drummed up by certain people. They seem to believe that it's these games fault that a school shooting occurred instead of perhaps better mental health programs or better gun control laws. It's worth noting that we have absolutely no idea if the killer from Newtown even played Grand Theft Auto or even video games at all. However, that did not stop Senator Manchin from jumping to a conclusion about what needs to be done.
If video games were the root cause or at least a contributing factor to this gruesome violence then why are we not seeing this occur more often? After all, there are millions of teenage boys and girls that play video games. The Call of Duty franchise is the top-selling video game franchise year after year. It would be safe to assume in that case that the violent crime rate is spiraling out of control as we have a national pandemic on our hands. Except, we don't.
The violent crime rate in this country has actually been steadily decreasing since 1991. In fact, violent crime in the United States is currently at the same level it was in 1973. The opposite of what should be occurring due to the amount of violent video games being played if you follow the logic of those who would like to see them banned.
It's also worth noting that the majority of the rest of the world have all these same video games. Games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto are played all over the world. So if video games are a contributing factor at the very least to all these shootings then why are not also occurring on the scale they are in the United States?
What we need in this country to prevent tragedies like Newtown from occurring again elsewhere are real solutions. Banning video games in order to stop more shootings is not a real solution. It's an attempt to implement censorship by using tragedies as justification.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Reflections on Newtown and After
The following post is my opinion and my opinion alone. Ultimately, I am just a guy with a blog and my opinion doesn't carry any weight anyway. The following post isn't to discuss any political aspect or motives on the part of the killer. I am certainly not an expert in either category and any discussion about gun control or anything else political just seems inappropriate at this juncture.
20 children and 6 adults lost their lives yesterday in a tragedy that is one of the worst in this country's history. It's daunting to consider for a moment that yesterday's tragedy had a death count that was double Columbine. Yesterday's shooting was a tragedy whether it was one person or 26 who died either way.
Yesterday was one of those days that test the human spirit and make people (including myself) question a number of things. After all, it's one thing to read about unspeakable evil and another to see the results of it developing live on television. However, it's especially important to keep things in perspective after yesterday's tragedy. The tragedy in Connecticut is a stark reminder about how fragile life truly and what is important. Every day is worth cherishing. It's just unfortunate that it often takes a tragedy to occur either on a large scale or in our own lives to remind us of that simple statement.
It's these type of tragedies that cause many people to lose "faith in the human race" so to speak. However, Mr. Rogers said it best: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster', I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world."
In the coming weeks I'm sure we'll be subjected to hearing about every detail of the killer's life and all the signs that were missed that could have prevented this tragedy. However, it is also worth noting those who did their best to help as many children as they could survive this shooting. It would be another tragedy to let the actions of one person define people as a whole when there are plenty of good people out there.
I will not withhold my disgust however for much of the national media's coverage on this tragedy. The mere fact that someone even attempted to interview children who were involved in this shooting is appalling. Never mind the fact that it was recorded and actually broadcasted on several television stations. Anyone who had a role in perpetuating the exploitation of these children should be ashamed of themselves.
I am also disgusted by many in the media simply rushing to get all the information they can out there, in many cases not checking to see if the facts are correct. It's no better than attempting to read a Twitter feed for news about the tragedy. One of the biggest mistakes they made was mistakenly naming Ryan Lanza the killer and not Adam Lanza. This man was being accused of these heinous killings, while being faced with the news of his mother, and little brother's deaths. His picture was flashed across the television.
I am sure we will hear countless reasons about why the killer committed this heinous act in the next couple weeks as people on both sides of the political spectrum attempt to use this incident as a way to push forward their agenda.
I'm not going to pretend that I have the answers for what happened yesterday because I don't. All I can say is that my thoughts go out to those families who were impacted by this tragedy. Especially the mothers and fathers who will be spending this upcoming Christmas without their children. My only suggestion to anyone reading this is to remember what is important in your life and commit to looking at each day as a valuable one. I know I will certainly be attempting to do so.
20 children and 6 adults lost their lives yesterday in a tragedy that is one of the worst in this country's history. It's daunting to consider for a moment that yesterday's tragedy had a death count that was double Columbine. Yesterday's shooting was a tragedy whether it was one person or 26 who died either way.
Yesterday was one of those days that test the human spirit and make people (including myself) question a number of things. After all, it's one thing to read about unspeakable evil and another to see the results of it developing live on television. However, it's especially important to keep things in perspective after yesterday's tragedy. The tragedy in Connecticut is a stark reminder about how fragile life truly and what is important. Every day is worth cherishing. It's just unfortunate that it often takes a tragedy to occur either on a large scale or in our own lives to remind us of that simple statement.
It's these type of tragedies that cause many people to lose "faith in the human race" so to speak. However, Mr. Rogers said it best: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster', I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world."
In the coming weeks I'm sure we'll be subjected to hearing about every detail of the killer's life and all the signs that were missed that could have prevented this tragedy. However, it is also worth noting those who did their best to help as many children as they could survive this shooting. It would be another tragedy to let the actions of one person define people as a whole when there are plenty of good people out there.
I will not withhold my disgust however for much of the national media's coverage on this tragedy. The mere fact that someone even attempted to interview children who were involved in this shooting is appalling. Never mind the fact that it was recorded and actually broadcasted on several television stations. Anyone who had a role in perpetuating the exploitation of these children should be ashamed of themselves.
I am also disgusted by many in the media simply rushing to get all the information they can out there, in many cases not checking to see if the facts are correct. It's no better than attempting to read a Twitter feed for news about the tragedy. One of the biggest mistakes they made was mistakenly naming Ryan Lanza the killer and not Adam Lanza. This man was being accused of these heinous killings, while being faced with the news of his mother, and little brother's deaths. His picture was flashed across the television.
I am sure we will hear countless reasons about why the killer committed this heinous act in the next couple weeks as people on both sides of the political spectrum attempt to use this incident as a way to push forward their agenda.
I'm not going to pretend that I have the answers for what happened yesterday because I don't. All I can say is that my thoughts go out to those families who were impacted by this tragedy. Especially the mothers and fathers who will be spending this upcoming Christmas without their children. My only suggestion to anyone reading this is to remember what is important in your life and commit to looking at each day as a valuable one. I know I will certainly be attempting to do so.
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