Later today, the National Rifle Association will hold a "major" news conference, to outline their upcoming efforts to offer "meaningful contributions to help make sure [the Sandy Hook tragedy] never happens again". But many are also expecting them to blame video games as the cause, like so many members of the media and political pundits have done so already.
But The National Review, one of the most revered and depended upon outlets for conservative news, commentary, and opinion, has just issued an opinion piece that lambast that exact train of thought. Which, as Kotaku points out, is quite surprising, and almost out of character to a certain degree.
Robert VerBruggen, author of the piece, lays out an argument that one has probably read elsewhere, plenty of times. Mostly on gaming blogs and other places that usually blasts conservative outlets, just like The National Review. Here's an excerpt:
"For one thing, games can serve as an outlet for violent tendencies, thus relieving these urges rather than incubating them, according to some research. This raises the possibility that game violence and real violence are substitutes: There is a statistical link between the two because violent people like both of them, but taking away video-game violence would actually increase real violence, because these people would lose an outlet.
Relatedly, violent video games keep violent people occupied — every minute they spend with a controller in their hands is a minute they don’t spend hurting others. Some researchers claim that violent crime falls on days when a lot of people are in theaters watching violent movies; it’s not hard to imagine something similar happening when violence-prone teens stay at home with Saints Row: The Third rather than going out to run amok."
VerBruggen goes on to extol other virtues of video games, such as how they can serve as a catalyst for positive bonding among young males, along with various statistics, including as how violent crimes among the demographics that play games has fallen over the years.
Kotaku also recently posted a Fox News clip in which Bill O’Reilly, who most liberals cannot stand, exhibits rather a clear and levelheaded opinion on the debate. So what's the take away here? That those who naturally assume that every conservative wants to blame violence on video games and is in the pocket of gun lobbyists are actually in error.
