Guns are not toys and shooting is not a game

[CreekDog]

Last edited Tue Mar 19, 2013, 08:40 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm not asking for laws about the above.

I'm just asking for a new way of thinking.

Yes, it sounds impossible, but we've made strides in elevating non violence as a value, we've made strides about bullying, from thinking it was a necessary part of growing up, to being increasingly battled and recognized for the harm it does.

In the aftermath of the Milk-Moscone assassinations in San Francisco when I was a child http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassinations, which were just one week after my congressman, Leo Ryan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Ryan, was himself assassinated during the Jonestown Massacre (where my current congresswoman, Jackie Speier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier, was herself shot multiple times and survived)...I was not allowed to have toy guns.

I was disappointed at times that my friends could have them and I could not. But as I got older, though I shot guns, did target practice, I have never liked guns and in my early 20's eliminated even the rare shooting I did do with friends because it put lead into the environment.

I'm not asking people to not own guns in this post.

I'm asking them to make sure the next generation is taught that they aren't toys and that what they do isn't a game --it can be done and it will make a difference.

[In_The_Wind]

1. I agree with you. The romance of the gunslinger is over.

Or it should be.

[Hoyt]

2. +10000. Changing perception of guns in our society is very important.

[Remmah2]

6. FWIW

I agree. I hate them in entertainment and hate them as toys.

[Hoyt]

7. Agee, we need to do something about violence in entertainment.

But, walking around with guns in public, blasting away at silhouette targets resembling humans, and other macho gun celebrations -- need to become taboo in our society.

[jmg257]

3. Agree also. But how do we best deal with the video gaming aspect? Shooting IS a game to this

next generation. It also seems a lot of interest in weapons is...stewed...by their use in all these 1st person shooters.

I have to worry about this, as I have a soon to be 16yr old.

[DanTex]

5. I played my share of first person shooters in high school and college.

Nobody that I played with would ever have dreamed of taking an actual gun and trying to simulate the game, any more than they would try do jump down a 30-foot wall, or any of the other things that happen in video games. I agree that it is possible that as a society video games do increase interest in weapons and violence. But as a practical matter, for a reasonably well-adjusted kid, the biggest danger of first-person shooters is that they are really fun and can end up getting in the way of schoolwork.

[Robb]

4. Interesting bit in Psychology Today on first-person shooting games.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/get-psyched/201301/video-game-guns-and-realistic-guns

The nutshell is that while their research didn't point to a violent video game making anyone more (or less) likely to go out and shoot people, if they did come to a decision to do so, the games that rewarded marksmanship in a more violent fashion turned out better shooters -- e.g. they "trained" more efficiently and improved real-world shooting accuracy better with the violent shooting game than the one that looked like cartoon target practice.

[BainsBane]

8. think about the toys you give kids

Avoid guns, and it would be nice if kids didn't grow up shooting virtual guns in video games. That all contributes to the idea that guns are toys and shooting is fun. Violent video games also train them to be drone pilots. Do you want your kid becoming a drone pilot?

[CreekDog]

9. a lot of the modern day gun culture, among the younger set seems like this

guns as toys and shooting as hobby --but almost as a game, not serious enough for my tastes, considering the danger.