Morning Joe ...Video Games and Movies to blame not Guns!

[DaDeacon]

Sorry Video Games do not kill, Movies do not kill, they do not make you kill.

GUNS JOE GUNS KILL!!!

(people with Guns kill BUT you get the idea!!!)

[Ilsa]

1. Sometimes I think he goes along

With this crap to keep viewers riled up. He has had several guests on the show citing research that concludes differently.

[The Straight Story]

2. Take a look at McCain in 1999 on Columbine and this (but he is silent now...)

McCain letter to President Clinton regarding Columbine Tragedy
April 17, 1999
WASHINGTON, D.C - Senator McCain, along with Lieberman, Markey, and Burton composed this letter to President Clinton and Joint Resolution in response to the Columbine High School tragedy.

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
Dear Mr. President:

We are writing in response to the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado and the growing national debate about who or what is to blame for this and other recent school shooting rampages.

Like much of America, we are struggling to explain why young boys are now slaughtering their classmates and teachers. It is a manifestation of something that goes beyond our normal realm of shared experience, something so senseless, so soulless, so inhuman as to be almost incomprehensible. But as the unthinkable becomes familiar, and our communities live in fear that their children will be the next target, we must confront it. Every one of our sons and daughters are at risk. So is our way of life and the values sustaining it.

In the coming days, we will be joining with several of our colleagues from both parties to
propose some ideas as to how we can come together as a national family to answer the perplexing questions we are grappling with now. We want to try to understand what is causing
our schools to become killing fields, what it means in relation to the larger epidemic of youth
violence that is claiming the lives of thousands of children each year, and what we can do to
restore security and sanity to our schoolyards. But that will understandably take time, and we as
parents and lawmakers feel a strong sense of urgency to do whatever we can now to diminish the
likelihood that another community will feel the searing pain and grief which has visited Littleton
this month.

A good place to start, in our view, is with the entertainment media and the violent images
and messages with which they are bombarding our children. This is a problem which we, like
you and the First Lady, have been concerned about for some time. Scores of studies, hearings,
and protests of angry and fearful parents have convinced us that the multimedia onslaught our
children are exposed to every day is doing real harm, desensitizing kids to the consequences of
violence, teaching them that gunplay is a reasonable way to settle disputes, and increasing the
likelihood that life will tragically imitate art. Our concerns have been heightened by the pattern
emerging from the recent school massacres, which indicates that the gunmen involved have been
immersed in and fascinated with hyperviolent films, record lyrics, video games, or Internet sites
in varying combinations.

We recognize that this outbreak of school violence is a complicated phenomenon, most likely involving multiple factors, such as the illegal access kids are getting to guns, the disconnection of parents from their children's lives, the distortions of mental illness, and the weakening of our moral and communal safety nets. But like much of the American public, who have increasingly been focusing on the role of the entertainment industry in this tragic story, we believe that media violence is contributing to this problem, and that we need the help of the entertainment community to solve it.

To help make sure this appeal is heard now, and this moment seized, we strongly urge you, in conjunction with the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress, to convene an emergency summit meeting at the White House with the leaders of the entertainment industry. By elevating this concern to summit status, we believe you could jumpstart a dialogue that we need to have, and enhance the chances of winning the cooperation of the nation's cultural producers. This is what happened three years ago with the V-chip meeting you held with the television industry, which produced a breakthrough in the effort to create a TV ratings system. Now the time has come to begin a similarly high-level conversation with the broader entertainment community, including the major entertainment conglomerates and the increasingly influential interactive media companies, who together are responsible for shaping so much of the world our children inhabit.

The goal of such a gathering should not be to find scapegoats, but to find solutions, to find areas of common ground for fulfilling our common values, our shared interest in protecting children from harm. As we have said repeatedly, we are not seeking censorship, but better citizenship, the ethic of responsibility we have come to expect from these great companies, who contribute so much to our society. We look forward to working with you to foster that kind of constructive dialogue and ultimately improve the climate in which we raise our children. Thank you for your consideration. We eagerly wait your response.


Sincerely,
John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Ed Markey, and Dan Burton'


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following joint
resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
JOINT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the need for a Surgeon General's report on media and violence.

Whereas the tragic killings at a high school in Colorado remind us that violence in America continues to occur at unacceptable levels for a civilized society;

Whereas the relationship of violent messages delivered through such popular media as television, radio, film, recordings, video games, advertising, the Internet, and other outlets of mass culture, to self-destructive or violent behavior by children or young adults towards themselves, such as suicide, or to violence directed at others,, has been studied intensely both by segments of the media industry itself and by academic institutions;

Whereas the same media used to deliver messages which harm our children can also be used to deliver messages which promote positive behavior;

Whereas much of this research has occurred in the 17 years since the last major review and report of the literature was assembled by the National Institute on Mental Health published in 1982;

Whereas the Surgeon General of the United States last issued a comprehensive report on violence and the media in 1971; and

Whereas the number, pervasiveness, and sophistication of technological avenues for delivering messages through the media to young people has expanded rapidly since these 2 reports: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 That-

4 (1) the Surgeon General, in cooperation with
5 the National Institute of Mental Health, and such
6 other sources of expertise as the Surgeon General
7 deems appropriate, shall undertake a comprehensive
8 review of published research, analysis, studies, and
9 other sources of reliable information concerning the
10 impact on the health and welfare of children and
11 young adults of violent messages delivered through
12 such popular media as television, radio, recordings,
13 video games, advertising, the Internet, and other
14 outlets of mass culture;

1 (2) the Surgeon General shall issue a report
2 based on this review which shall include, but not be
3 limited to, findings and recommendations concerning
4 what can be done to mitigate any harmful affects on
5 children and young adults from these messages, and
6 the identification of gaps in the research that should
7 be filled; and

8 (3) this review shall be completed in no more
9 than 1 year, and the report based on the review
10 shall be issued in no more than 6 months following
11 - completion of the review.

http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.Speeches&ContentRecord_id=0015f6ff-64c0-42b1-a5ca-62c53a29f2bb&Region_id=&Issue_id

[barnabas63]

3. I didn't get that from the show at all...

They're talking about he influence of violent media on children, which is a valid point.

[DaDeacon]

5. Is it really?

It's a circular argument that we find ourselfs in every shooting ( not I didn't say beating, or other violent act). I That it must be the media that made the young white male do this. It was teh music in the 70's, the slasher films and Dongens and Dragons in the 80's, Video games and Rap in the 90's and 2000's. Pop culture wil aways get the bad press. While the tool of terror used will get a new pass. Nothing new under the sun I guess.

[Posteritatis]

8. Yep, never mind that the same media doesn't 'cause' those problems elsewhere. (nt)

[DaDeacon]

4. OMG, they are doing it again!!!

I know games , pro gamers I play games, have I killed anyone?

Just saying.

Yes they will do always blame media rather than teh actors of violence.

[Berserker]

6. No they

always blame Guns rather than the actors of violence. You had it part right.

[HereSince1628]

9. The logic of that sort of inference is flawed.

I have no reason to doubt that you play games and have not killed anyone. Indeed I accept them as true. But it doesn't change the problem with the logic.

It's easier to see it if you consider the same form of argument on a topic you aren't emotional about:

The sidewalk outside my residence is flat, therefore the world is flat.

[Javaman]

11. The influence of video games upon a mind already predestined to violence

could possibly act as a potential accelerator.

There is still no comprehensive study done nor any cause and effect of "violent" video games translating to real world violence.

Until there is, claiming that video games are a potential source is nothing but hyperbole and straw-man arguments.

[DaDeacon]

7. I own Guns and I think Guns get way more blame than they should...

however please don't try to remove them from the equation. When talking about "GUN" Control.

[randome]

10. Exactly.

Many different subjects need to be addressed. I am firmly of the opinion that we can and should tone down the glorification of violence.

But on the topic of gun control, guns come first. Then we can look at the other topics.