22 Jan 2013
Contributing Opinion
On Jan. 15, Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement blaming video games for violence, an accusation that could be expanded to include comics, television, radio, cinema, and the printed word – it’s been done before.
His argument is that laws don’t prevent action and therefore don’t work. By that logic, we should also get rid of laws against rape, murder, child molestation, and pretty much everything else, because they are merely punitive and not preventative.
As for his advocacy for prayer, that’s fine and dandy, but won’t actually do much in the real world to get things accomplished. Praying for safety is not the same thing as working to keep kids safe. Prayer at its best is preparation for action and not an end in itself.
The governor’s argument is meaningless drivel, and grandstanding at its worst.
Further, his statement seems to indicate that he either wrote it before Obama’s executive orders were made public, or that he didn’t bother to read them. Either option just means he’s that much more of an idiot.
Forbes issued a synopsis of the 23 executive orders, and their full text is available on the White House website.
Not one of them seeks to confiscate already owned firearms. None seek any unconstitutional action – in fact, several urge Congress to take constitutional action.
More than a third of them focus on making background checks meaningful and universal, and support making it easier for states and federal agencies to share information.
A survey of NRA members last summer showed overwhelming support for measures like these, even as the so-called “leaders” of that organization have consistently opposed them.
The NRA’s leaders also think that people on the terrorism watch list should be able to buy firearms with no background checks, but that’s another story.
All reputable evidence to date says that Governor Goodhair’s finger pointing at video games is utterly wrong. Individuals with violent tendencies are drawn to violent video games, and many can find benefit from them as healthy and vicarious outlets for their tendencies. There is no evidence whatsoever that definitively implicates video games as a cause of violence.
Please understand, I’m a gun-owning liberal – yes, we do exist. This means that I support gun rights, but refuse to do so in ways that misuse statistics, misrepresent history, intentionally ignore relevant data, or introduce irrelevancies just because that gets me what I want.
Perry is intentionally misrepresenting both information on violent crime and what the president actually said about guns, and Texas deserves better than this.
J. Holder Bennett is a history Ph.D. student. He can be reached at JasonBennett2@my.unt.edu.
