gun-violence
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Turn in violent video games, get ice cream in California county
The District Attorney of Marin county, California, is hosting a buyback day for residents' toy guns and violent video games, in an effort to highlight issues of domestic violence during October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month. District Attorney Ed Berberian is working with the Center for Domestic Peace and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream for the event, to be held on October 4 at Novato police headquarters. Participants will receive ice cream, Marin IJ says. "As we know, domestic violence incidents almost always have children present and these children develop over time imprinted images of the family violence," Berberian said in a written message. "These children then carry those experiences into their adult lives and often repeat the pattern of violence in their own family units."
Activision hires lobbyists to advocate on Senate bill researching violence
Activision has hired a prominent lobbying group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to advocate on a Senate bill aimed at researching the impact of "violent" video games and programming on children. The lobbying registration form doesn't indicate Activision's position on the bill. The bill, S. 134: Violent Content Research Act, aims to have the National Academy of Sciences "study the impact of violent video games and violent video programming on children." The study would investigate whether there is a link between violent video games or programming and aggressive behavior. Singular to video games, it would study "whether current or emerging characteristics of video games have a unique impact on children, considering in particular video games' interactive nature and the extraordinarily personal and vivid way violence might be portrayed in such video games." This is a separate effort from President Barack Obama's executive order that the CDC research the causes of gun violence, with a specific mandate to study video games. The Violent Content Research Act was sent to the full Senate on July 30 and has yet to be raised for vote.
CDC group to research impact of violent games on real gun violence
Following an executive order from President Barack Obama, the Centers for Disease Control tasked the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council to create a plan to research the causes of – and potential deterrents to – gun violence in the United States. The committee created a plan that should produce results in three to five years and focuses on, in part, the impact of video games and other media on real-life gun violence. "While the vast majority of research on the effects of violence in media has focused on violence portrayed in television and movies, more recent research has expanded to include music, video games, social media, and the Internet – outlets that consume more and more of young people's days," the Institute of Medicine writes. "However, in more than 50 years of research, no study has focused on firearm violence as a specific outcome of violence in media. As a result, a direct relationship between violence in media and real-life firearm violence has not been established and will require additional research." In January, Obama signed 23 executive orders with the purpose of researching and curtailing gun violence, based on data collected by Vice President Joe Biden during a round of meetings with players in potentially related industries, including gaming.
VP Joe Biden: 'No legal reason' the US can't tax violent media
Vice President Joe Biden has been on the front lines of the gun violence debate since the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December. In January, Biden led a task force assigned by President Barack Obama to examine possible means of curtailing gun violence in the US, and his findings prompted Obama to call for scientific research into the effects of violent media on young minds. Earlier in May, Biden met behind closed doors with 20 representatives from faith-based organizations to discuss gun control and immigration, and he briefly addressed video games, Politico reports. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, proposed to Biden that "media and entertainment that portray violence should be subject to a special tax, with the proceeds going to help victims and their families," according to Rabbi Julie Schonfeld. Biden replied that there was "no restriction on the ability to do that; there's no legal reason why they couldn't" place a tax on violent media, Sister Marjorie Clark told Politico. Biden again emphasized the need for more research into the subject, Clark added: "He said they really need a good scientific study, which they've done on things like smoking." During his initial fact-finding meetings in January, Biden expressed particular interest in speaking with inter-faith organizations, though he met with a wide swathe of communities, including entertainment companies, advocacy groups, youth organizations, the mental health community and the NRA.
EA kills licensing deals with gun makers, keeps those guns in games [Update]
Behind the scenes, EA is dropping licensing ties to real-life gun manufacturers, but on-screen it still intends to use branded guns in its games. Most recently, EA has worked with gun manufacturers such as McMillan Group International and gun magazine maker Magpul to promote Medal of Honor: Warfighter, but now those deals are off – even though EA still plans to use name-brand guns in its shooters. "We're telling a story and we have a point of view," EA Labels President Frank Gibeau tells Reuters. "A book doesn't pay for saying the word 'Colt,' for example." EA spokesman Jeff Brown says branded weapons lend games "enhanced authenticity," which is why EA wants to keep them in its games. However, all official agreements between EA and gun companies are now severed. "The action games we will release this year will not include licensed images of weapons," Brown says. Following December's mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the NRA and a handful of politicians and pundits blamed video games for encouraging gun violence. One week after the shooting, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said video games represented "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people." Brown says that the NRA's comments have nothing to do with its decision: "The response from our audience was pretty clear: They feel the comments from the NRA were a simple attempt to change the subject." EA is currently involved in a lawsuit with Bell Helicopter, who argues that use of its helicopters in the Battlefield games goes beyond fair use and infringes on Bell's trademark. A jury trial is set for June to decide the issue, which could easily apply to EA's new gun-licensing theory. Update: Jeff Brown tells Ars Technica that EA has never paid a licensing fee to a gun manufacturer, nor has it been paid to use specific branded guns in its games. EA will simply continue this practice in the future. "No other EA game or service has used licensed gun images in a game," Brown says. EA did work with McMillan and Magpul for that Medal of Honor: Warfighter campaign, a charity benefiting veterans that encouraged gun makers featured in the game to donate. Those that did were featured on a Warfighter sub-page as "authentic brands" in the game. All of the money went straight to the charity, Brown says.
CT senator proposes bill to ban minors using fake guns in arcades
Connecticut State Senator Toni Harp proposed a bill in January that would ban anyone younger than 18 from playing "violent point-and-shoot" video games in arcades or other public establishments. The bill defined "violent point-and-shoot" games as any entertainment device that used the "facsimile of a firearm as an essential component of play," which would include games such as House of the Dead, Area 51 and Duck Hunt.The bill also called for research into the effects of violent video games on young minds, through a committee called the Violent Video Game Task Force within the Department of Children and Families. The task force would advise the Governor and General assembly on state programs that "may reduce the effects of violent video games on youth behavior," suggesting before the research was done that violent video games have an effect on children's actions.The bill's Statement of Purpose offered a clear position on violent video games' impact on young minds, again presented before any research began: "To prevent minors from using violent point-and-shoot video games in public arcades and to create a task force to study the effects of violent video games on youth behavior."This bill joined an influx of attention on video games in relation to real-world gun violence, following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Senator Harp's suggestions mimicked and magnified President Obama's proposal to research violent video games and enact other forms of potential gun-violence prevention.[Thanks, Seth.]
The Firing Line: On Destiny, Tribes GOTY, and Ghost in the Shell
It's been a pretty eventful week for online shooter news, and The Firing Line is back to help you catch up on all the tidbits you might've missed. Since we've got so much to cover, what say we skip the usual game journo intro puns and get right to it?
Nancy Pelosi says violent media research should be 'comprehensive'
Democratic Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, spoke with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace about President Barack Obama's proposal to research the link between media and violent acts. Pelosi presented a comprehensive approach to research and reform, noting that current evidence didn't suggest violent video games equate violent people."I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, but the evidence says that in Japan, for example, they have the most violent games than the rest and the lowest mortality from guns," Pelosi said. "I don't know what the explanation is for that except that they might have good gun laws."Wallace challenged Pelosi, suggesting that it was obvious violent video games had malicious consequences, behind a slide of Black Ops 2 and Grand Theft Auto footage."We don't need another study, respectfully," Wallace said. "We know that these video games where people have their heads splattered, these movies, these TV shows – why don't you go to your friends in Hollywood and challenge them, shame them, and say, 'knock it off.'"Pelosi stepped away from anecdotal evidence and said she wanted hard facts and evidence about violent media, as well as mental health care and assault weapons reform."I think we have to do it all, and that's why we included in there we have to take a look at what these games are," Pelosi said. "I don't think we should do anything anecdotally. We have a saying here, 'the plural of anecdote is not data.' So we want to know, what is the evidence, what will really make a difference here? And I think it has to be comprehensive."Wallace and Pelosi began discussing media and gun violence at the 9:55 mark in the linked Fox News video.
Riccitiello: We were 'horrified' by Newtown, studies don't link video games to gun violence
EA CEO John Riccitiello said EA didn't see any impact on sales of shooters following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, nor during the following political maelstrom. Riccitiello said he has a unique vantage point on the issue of gun violence and the media, since he chairs the ESRB and ESA alongside his day job.During a financial call, Riccitiello fielded a question about the potential impact of real-life gun violence on shooter sales and EA's internal approach to violent games."I was hoping we weren't going to do this question," he began.
Obama orders CDC to study violence in video games
While violence in video games and the effect upon its participants wasn't at the crux of today's gun control press conference, President Obama did mention that he is sending the Center for Disease Control after the industry to root out a possible cause of gun violence. One of Obama's 23 executive orders was to "Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence." Among these potential causes are movies, television, and video games. The President defended the order by saying, "We don't benefit from ignorance. We don't benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence. Congress should fund research into the effects violent video games have on young minds." Vice President Joe Biden previously met with several video game industry leaders as part of the task force to make recommendations on the issue.
Obama signs executive orders to curtail, research gun violence [Update: ESA responds]
President Barack Obama signed 23 executive actions today with the goal of suppressing gun violence and researching the effects of violent media on young minds. The actions supplement a proposed $500 million program to curtail gun violence, including implementing a universal background check for gun buyers, restoring a ban on military-style assault weapons and limiting magazines to 10 rounds, and developing emergency preparedness plans.Obama mentioned video games once during the conference, asking Congress to provide $10 million for the Centers for Disease Control and other scientific agencies to research the causes of gun violence."While year after year, those who oppose even modest gun safety measures have threatened to defund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence, I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it," Obama said. "And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds. We don't benefit from ignorance. We don't benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence."Obama's recommendations come after Vice President Joe Biden led a task force to investigate various industries and angles of curtailing gun violence, following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut last month. He met with leaders in the video game industry, including EA's John Riccitiello, as part of his information-gathering tour."While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try it," Obama said.A summary of Obama's recommendations include the following steps: strengthen the background check system to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, help schools to hire more resource officers if they want them, develop emergency preparedness plans, clarify options that mental health professionals have for reporting threats of violence (acknowledging that those with mental health issues are more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators), enacting a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun, restore a ban on military-style assault weapons and enact a 10-round limit on magazines, have Congress support severe punishments for criminal gun buyers and sellers, and placing more police officers on the streets.Obama ended the conference by signing the executive orders, emphasizing the responsibility of Congress to enact his recommendations.
