Sandy Hook TV Pundits Torn About Whether Violent Video Games Are A Problem

We’ve yet to see signs that Sandy Hook murderer Adam Lanza was a hardcore gamer, let alone a fan of shooter video games, but TV pundits continue to discuss the role violent video games play in the coarsening of our society.

On Friday, we presented one pundit’s rapid dot-connecting of mass shootings and violent video games. Since then, a lot of information has come out about Lanza’s familiarity with guns, his mother’s ownership of the assault rifle he used, possible mental illness and a tiny bit about his interest in LAN gaming parties.

On Sunday night, President Barack Obama called for action, alluding loosely and indirectly to the prospect of new efforts involving gun control and mental illness. That same day, the man who helped him get elected fretted over a video game commercial and “marketing murder as a game”.

Today, we shared two very different reactions about the shootings, one by an enemy of video games the other by a gamer calling for a “ceasefire” in online shooter games, to convey a sense that gamers give a damn enough to give themselves a day of peace and reflection.

Above you’ll see how games keep getting woven into the debate, sometimes by people who seem to have no idea what they’re talking about and other times by people who do.

Originally written and published by Stephen Totilo at Kotaku. Click here to read the original story.
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