Jasmin Moreno
Professor Sim
CMP 128
1 April 2018

The U.S. Supreme court had ruled that children have a right to purchase violent video games according to the first amendment. However, much controversy has sparked over its violation to human values. Back in February of 2018, President Donald Trump blamed violent video games for school shootings. Erik Kain, the contributor, mentioned how Trump told the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi that violent video games shape young people’s behavior. This was during the time that the Parkland school shooting had occurred. He swayed away from the fact that guns are the real problem, but tried to make violent video games the real culprit behind school shootings, and other problems in the media. Ironically,
However, gun deaths can be reduced in the U.S. if there were a focus on thorough background checks and gun safety. In other countries (such as Japan and Australia) it’s statistically proven that they have tremendously lower death rates caused by guns than the U.S.. Many of those countries partake in video games just as much as Americans do, making the “violent video games are the problem” argument invalid. They also participate in stricter gun laws, and gun control-- as the U.S. doesn’t. Other politicians, such as Brian Mast, have blamed games such as ‘Call of Duty’, and the movie, ‘John Wick’ for violent behaviors; in other countries that isn’t the case at all. Robert Nardolillo, a State Representative, proposed taxing violent video games to stop violence, but didn’t have any intentions on proposing taxes on guns. The Supreme Court ruled that exposure to violent video games does not provoke aggressive actions in children. Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia mentioned how the exposure to violent video games has the same effect as children watching cartoons; meaning there is no desensitization or risk. All available studies and data do not show a correlation between violent video