http://www.bnd.com/2013/02/12/2493214/illinois-sheriffs-oppose-assault.html

The videogames thing really has got to stop. I agree with the other points.

Video games won't get any more traction than the fight against the music industry, notably Ozzy Ozborne, did in the 80s.  It's freedom of speech.

The video game thing is actually a valid point, but it's on the perimeter of the real target.

Our desensitization toward extreme, bloody, gruesome and realistic violence actually began in Hollywood in the late 1960s through the 1970s. Video games are just a mainstream technological update of a cultural and moral shift that took place a long time ago.

Think of Hollywood's The Wild Bunch, Bonnie and Clyde, Jaws, The Exorcist, etc, from the 1960s-1970s. Blood splattering all over, body tissue and organs flying -- human mortality laid bare, death warmed over and served with buttered popcorn and a 24-oz. Coke.

Then take a look at violence and death through the lens of Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s -- plenty of war movies and westerns, but little if any blood. We saw staged imitations of mortality, and we all understood that death scenes were playacting, part of the script, a dramatic moment. It was not much different than when we ran around the neighborhood playing Cops and Robbers or Cowboys and Indians. All of us were shot and killed at one point or another, yet we managed to dust ourselves off and get home in time for dinner.

Death was make-believe.

Bloody, gaping wounds, dismemberment, and life-like death sold a lot of movie tickets, and we accepted it. More than that, we craved it. And it's been with us ever since... only now it's viscerally amplified and electronically available on demand.

Moral restraint is make-believe.

Video games are just a drop in our cultural bucket of blood.

That's absolutely correct. Besides, Hollywood and the entertainment industry is politically off-limits when it comes to finger-pointing.

You can burn our flag or piss on a crucifix, and it's protected by our First Amendment.

We could have done that fifty years ago, too... but we chose NOT to... because we were better than that. Our lives were not governed by our baser instincts.

For anyone who discounts the effects that the violent video games and movies/TV show have on society I  would strongly recommend going out and getting a copy of the book On Killing (or any of the other books) by ret. LtCol Dave Grossman (Mascoutah native for those of us in the St. Louis metro area).

http://www.killology.com/bio.htm

ETA Please read

America has been a violent culture since we told the largest empire in the world to piss off in the late 1700s.

Like most things, I suspect there is a grain of truth in the idea that violent media has an effect on some people. The ones it affects tend to be those who lack the ability to deal with anger and solve their problems constructively. To this end, I would expect the young and the mentally unstable to show disproportionate effects from such things. That said, its really not a government problem, since all of this stuff comes with an off switch. In the same vein, I have no problem with people who don't like guns or want to own them. I have no intention of surrendering my rights to placate their emotions either.

Ruger has a simple letter composed on their website, just fill out your personal information, and they will automatically contact all of your representatives with a letter individually regarding gun ownership.  Please click here
and let your representatives know how you feel.

Allow me to share some insight into DH Durbin:

This was what I sent to him:

" I am a law-abiding citizen and responsible gun owner.

I am saddened by the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut, but I believe that efforts to impose new restrictions on me and other lawful and responsible owners like me are misguided. Did you know that violent crime with firearms has declined since the Federal "assault weapons ban" expired in 2004?

Your focus should be on strengthening mental health care and improving the quality of data supporting NICs checks (National Instant Criminal Background Check System). Do NOT pass more gun laws; instead, work to enforce the more than 20,000 gun laws already on the books.

I am your constituent and I vote. Please represent me. "

And this is his response letter to me:  http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/lovejordansjjm/LetterfromDickDurbin.png" target="_blank">http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/lovejordansjjm/LetterfromDickDurbin.png

The guy didn't even read the letter that was sent to him before responding.  

It has been talked about before, but its relatively ignored right now and that is teaching gun safety in the schools.  It would do a lot for accident avoidance.  It wont address the violence, but it may take a little off the mystery of weapons.
You can let the libs opt out...

Ha. You must think you live in America...

I know, so naive...

A constant diet of playing violent video games have been proven to cause violent behavior. The largest association of psychiatrists have proven documentation that upholds this truth. I believe we will see the video game industry sued because of the the Sandy Hook massacre. 'Grand Theft Auto' is a perfect example of a problem video game...let's see...in that game a player indiscriminately murders citizens, police officers, pays to have sex with prostitutes then murders them to get their money back after having sex with them...well that surely is a way to teach a young person to be a well rounded citizen!  By the way, the video game industry takes willing subjects and hooks them up to machines to get their physical responses as they're playing the games. That is how they know what parts of the violence induce the most reaction...and they program their games accordingly.

Great idea about the schools but it is a double edged sword.  I used try to throw in a little bit when I was teaching DARE. and also I teach firearm safety at the local hospital when they have their all day babysitting class.  What if the libtards put an anti-gunner in that position.  Then you have one of them teaching with a biased curriculum.

We already have the lib-tards teaching "gun evils", so I think it couldn't  be worse as it is now.