Wanye is out of his mind

The opposition was CERTAIN, that he would come out and say; "We don't want to ban guns", and walk off the stage. Then they would say; "The NRA has no solutions." He HAD to offer a solution.

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Yep. And he did.

I think he was right on. I'm a gamer. I love my GTA.

But I'm not stupid, kids much much younger than 17 are playing a game that instills victory in violence by any means necessary. Studies show that it has an effect. Same with social media, everyone wants to up eachother.

Same with television, on network tv at 6PM when my kids are up we have violence in mostly everything available. Hey who cares right, that's not the problem, don't watch if you don't want to. It's not that easy, everything coming out now a days is garbage, nothing is wholesome and family appropriate. We don't love the shows that everyone gets along, we love the shows where everyone is fighting.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

Blaming video games is a diversionary tactic to take some of the blame off the 2nd amendment. Nothing will ever be done about them as they are protected under the 1st amendment but can you really honestly say these games aren't disgusting?

But notice that he didn't talk about all violent video games. He singled out those which portray violence and lawlessness as not only a way of life, but how you win!

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That sounds eerily similar to the defense of those blaming gun culture. Watch what happens we swap out a few words:

But notice that he didn't talk about all guns. He singled out those which enable violence and lawlessness with their high-capacity magazines and military-style features!

hso said:

I agree that those should have been included to point to the root causes of high violence rates in parts of the country and the specifics of this incident and other mass murders.

The mental health issue is directly related to this incident and the other mass shootings in this country and those high profile crimes need to be the focus of the press conference. The other violent crimes tend to relate to the root causes you've cited of poverty, education, crime. Since they're no the focus of the press and not the cause of this incident and the other mass shootings it isn't a surprise that he stayed focused on this incident and not on the other nearly unrelated broader issue.

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There is no evidence that Call of Duty played a part in this shooting. There is no evidence that watching Expendables 2 caused this. To bring video games and movies up was a way to pander to a certain political group. A group that Gallup recently found thinks regulating speech through games and movies would be some what or highly effective at higher rates than other Americans.

Democrats were found to be highly in favor of gun bans. Republicans were found to be highly in favor of blaming video games and movies. Mentall health care is the only place they really shared a lot of common ground. Instead of pandering he should have spoke to the center and pledge to help fund programs or organizations that treat the mentally ill.

I didn't see the whole thing, but I hope he mentioned that the NRA supported legislation to give states incentives and penalties for not getting mental health adjudication records to the FBI for the NICS. On issues like this you have to hit the middle and show them that you care. You also have to prove that your detractors are wrong.

Pandering goes no where. Offering volunteer armed guards to schools is going to go over like a led balloon. The people that want to take our guns already hate the NRA and Guns. Their response will be, "great exactly what we need some trigger happy white guy to create another Trayvon Martin."

They need to play up the other parts of the shield plan and play up the NRA's history of working on common sense legislation. They also need to make a move on the mental health angle.

Jorg said:

That sounds eerily similar to the defense of those blaming gun culture. Watch what happens we swap out a few words:

But notice that he didn't talk about all guns. He singled out those which enable violence and lawlessness with their high-capacity magazines and military-style features!

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Exactly!

This is my point. These arguments are blaming the games rather than the people playing them. Much like anti gun crowds are blaming hi capacity magazines and "assault rifles" rather than the people behind them.

Wayne and the NRA are discrediting themselves and doing gun owners a diservice by using unproven bull (videogames or movies cause violence) as a response to any of these issues.

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For those that don't think video games have ANY effect on children:

http://www.ithp.org/articles/violentvideogames.html

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/05ga2.pdf

Also, Wayne did not single out video games, he singled out every type of media that glorifies violence.

Larry Pratt uses way more facts and stats and thats what the NRA should have done

The video game thing didn't affect me one way or the other. However, I LOVED the call for armed good guys in schools. Just donated $100 to the NRA-ILA based on that alone.

Yo Mama said:

For those that don't think video games have ANY effect on children:

http://www.ithp.org/articles/violentvideogames.html

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/05ga2.pdf

Also, Wayne did not single out video games, he singled out every type of media that glorifies violence.

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I'm glad you posted that groundbreaking link. Now all we need to do is come up with some sort of system of ratings that will let parents know what games are okay for their kids to play...like what the ESRB has been doing for years.

I'd also like to mention that this guy wasn't exactly an impressionable 13 year old who had his mind poisoned by scary evil video games.

If you read the entire statement and put it into context I think He did a good job. While most of us can watch these movies or play these games with no evil results, still the same media who demonize guns and want to take your 2nd amendment rights push the freedom of speech angle and that arts should not be censored. Its the old ok to take yours but don't touch mine argument. I hope it gets people to think and opens their eyes.
Also a push for the immediate protection at our schools is a good idea. Just as well it's taking some of the pressure away from the gun ban is the only solution movement.

We need an Armed Teacher program. Let teachers and staff members of schools volunteer to be armed. Do not force them to be armed.
Give them active shooter situational training.
Make them qualify with their carry weapon once per month.

Yikes...

Could we not have found a better spokesperson for starters? This guys does not come across as very PR friendly. In other words, he is not a likeable type of guy/personality. I also do not feel he does very well in speaking publicly at all.

For those that think this is a good speech, I completely disagree, respectfully. They did make some good points but I feel that they should have touched more on why people should own guns, among other things, rather than just say we need to arm our schools. That argument, while it may be an option, is not compelling enough to protect our rights, period. All that says is that some people believe we should provide better protection to our schools. There is absolutely nothing in this speech that would lead me to believe anyone should own a gun, which is really the main point here.

I do not see what the big deal is with those that do not want armed guards in schools. They are around everywhere else. In one of my high schools we had all kinds of armed personnel and metal detectors at every entrance/exit. In other words, in some areas this has been in place for a long time. So, why all the argument against doing it now? Perhaps some of these people need to get out of their high class neighborhoods once and awhile and see how the majority lives. I am not saying that this is a high class area as I have no idea how this area really is but lets face not everywhere in America is the perfect suburbia.

And on to my final point, I think its funny that people are all upset about this particular event. While this was very tragic indeed stuff like this happens everyday all over the world and our government is just as guilty of it as anyone, but you never here anyone getting all upset about the others that have met such tragedy. Do we really think that we are so much better than other people in the world that we do not/should not mourn others? I find that hypocritical in itself. Its like, oh 100 people died in Africa today, but nobody cares because it was not at home. You see my point here? All loss of life is sad but I do not hear most Americans screaming about those that were killed needlessly in Africa, the Middle East, SE Asia or anywhere else it occurs on a daily basis.

From what I have read, the effects of violent video games is not known. The effects likely vary with the individual. I suspect there may be a reduced sensitivity to violence as depicted in video, TV, movies and so forth. I suspect that if you have a serious mental problem, the impact could be greater relative to someone who might be considered "normal".

But spreading lies like this to try and cover gun owners asses is stupid.

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I doubt that these are outright lies.

You see the problem with these kinds of things... cause and effect... it is very hard to quantify and any "restrictions" placed on entertainment or firearm ownership or sales is subject to a lot of debate. But one thing for sure, any new regulations will impact honest law abiding gun owners and gamers.

I believe I heard in a speech yesterday that if we can protect even one child from these kinds of violent acts, the restrictions are justified. I dissagree completely.

I'd also like to mention that this guy wasn't exactly an impressionable 13 year old who had his mind poisoned by scary evil video games.

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He was once.

If you're ranting about video games then congratulations, you can't see the forest for the trees. Expand your vision a little and look at a society with a tremendous lack of parental supervision/influence and which glorifies gratuitous violence, rougher and rougher stimulation in a one-upmanship race to sell a product to the masses. That was the point of that section.

Maybe some of you can introduce me to your buddy "Wayne" some time, since you are on a first name basis.

I think They did a fine job. Some people just cant help but nit pick and want to find issues with everything.

Well the AP is already on it and spinning the shield plan as "revolving around armed volunteers."

Blaming video games, demanding an armed cop in every school, and asking for armed volunteers are the only things the media took away from it. Well played NRA.

The response will be, "they are out of touch and we certainly don't need more guns in our schools when guns caused this problem to start with."

Exactly!

This is my point. These arguments are blaming the games rather than the people playing them. Much like anti gun crowds are blaming hi capacity magazines and "assault rifles" rather than the people behind them.

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^ This.

Video games? Its possible. Remember way back when the Army switched from shooting at bullseyes to targets in the shape of a man, combat hits went up!

SOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Something to think about.

He did a great job,glad I'm a NRA member

MikeNice said:

Blaming movies and video games while there is little to no serious scientific data to back up the claims.

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That is like ... blaming guns and magazines without serious supporting data.

The NRA threw some gun control 'logic' back in their faces. While it would be nice if the debate over gun control depended on logic, most of the battle hinges on the sentiment of a relatively poorly informed population.

Polls show that a large part of population already considers violence in movies and video games to be a problem. Agreeing with the population about a topic that moves the discussion further from gun control is a smart move.

Twenty plus years ago a suicidal introvert was much more likely to go and quietly off himself than he was to go on a shooting spree compared to today. It's important we have some discussion regarding cultural changes. What is different now from past times? I think it's a valid conversation. Concern over violence in pop culture, whether we're talking movies, television, or video games, or anything else, is not new. You can find some cogent arguments from LTC Dave Grossman years ago.