Two tragic shootings have taken place over the weekend, with one taking place in El Paso, costing the lives of 22 civilians; and another in Dayton, with nine dead in its wake. This morning, president Donald Trump responded to the tragedy, noting that changes were needed for “mental health laws.” But he also pointed a finger at an unlikely source — violent video games.
He noted that “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun” in his speech this morning, noting that a “crackdown” on “gruesome and grisly” video games should take place. He noted his support for “red flag laws” and that “capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay.”
What’s interesting, however, is how he would wag his finger at violent video games, alongside other politicians, without any evidence to support the argument. Both shooters arrested for the shootings this weekend didn’t have any links to video games whatsoever, but did, however, have links to white supremacist issues — something that was barely touched on with his speech. And that was something a lot of gamers spoke about vehemently on social media when it came to his speech, defending video games.
Perhaps no statement came louder than former president Barack Obama. Rather than pointing the finger at something outside of the circle, he made a simple statement criticizing Trump’s words, standing with the family and friends of the victims and offering words of support.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 5, 2019
As for the words of gamers, well, you can find some of the better gamer statements below.
Mr. Trump: It’s not mental illness. It’s not video games
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 5, 2019
It’s the guns, stupid.
Donald Trump could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and Fox News would blame it on video games
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) August 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/brycetache/status/1158085866981474305?s=20
"The Media"
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 5, 2019
"Video Games"
"Mental illness"
"Immigrants"
The GOP will offer many reasons for inaction on mass shootings to give NRA and #WhiteSupremacistInChief cover.
DON'T BUY IT.
We've ALL seen trump stoke hatred for the past 3 years, and now we see the deadly results.
https://twitter.com/brycetache/status/1158161172786319361?s=20
Whether this “crackdown” will even take effect has yet to be seen. Some folks within the industry may recall Trump holding a meeting with politicians and game makers a while back regarding video game violence that…pretty much led nowhere. Oh, aside from the White House posting a video on YouTube without an age gate with some of the most violent video game footage out there.