In the span of 24 hours, two deadly mass shootings took place, in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, claiming the lives of more than 30 people and injuring dozens more.
President Trump addressed the nation, hoping to be the much-needed consoler in chief, saying, “America weeps for the fallen. We are a loving nation and our children are entitled to grow up in a just, peaceful, and loving society.”
Trump has long been accused of failing to address the issue of white nationalism and racism properly ever since the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy,” Trump said.
In an effort to take action to curb gun violence, Trump addressed several areas that need reform, including directing the FBI to better identify potential mass murderers, tracking the dark corners of the internet, reforming our mental healthcare system, and even proposing red flag laws that takes guns away from individuals who are a threat to themselves and others. But there was one particular point that Trump doesn’t fully understand: video games.
“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”
After the Parkland shooting in February 2018, Trump blamed video games for mass shootings as well, saying, “I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”
This is a very narrow view of looking at the scourge of mass shootings throughout our country.
People have been exposed to violence for centuries. It just so happens that video games are a relatively new media to scapegoat. Only within the last hundred years were public executions such as lynchings in the Deep South a family activity that whole communities watched, enjoyed, and even celebrated.
According to the FBI, homicide rates climbed throughout the 1970s and peaked in 1980 at 10.2 homicides per 100,000 people. During the 1970s, the most popular video game was Space Invaders. In the 1980s, video games became more sophisticated with the release of Mario Bros., Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. The first truly violent video game that revolutionized the industry was Doom, which was released in 1993. After 1992, however, homicide rates declined until 2010 from 9.3 to 4.8 homicides per 100,000 people.
Policing violent video games will do nothing to solve the problem of mass shootings in the United States, but it will embolden the federal government to disrupt people’s personal lives on what media they decide to consume on their own time.
