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mamabearCali, you've very well stated what for me is the crux of the issue. We, (the State) can't treat adults like children. If we truly believe in freedom, then we will have to accept that people will occasionally make bad choices. Some parents will decide to allow their children to play violent video games, and watch violent movies. I don't feel comfortable giving the government the power to forbid that. But we do need to make certain that people at least have valid information upon which to base their decisions. While I'm not aware of a scientific study that absolutely settles the matter, I find it probable, almost to a certainty, that violent movies and video games will desensitize children to violence. The next very logical assumption is that children desensitized to violence are more likely to be violent. I will encourage people to follow your example because I believe that.

This is an anecdotal observation. Not scientific at all, BUT:
Back in the last century when I was a kid, I talked to the "old" folks about things in their life. One I remember in particular was the their reaction to the original "Frankenstein," with Boris Karloff. My mother told me that people literally passed out from fear. Many more fled the theater in fright and didn't finish the movie.
Years later I happened to catch it on a Saturday morning. I almost choked to death laughing. I had tears streaming down my face. Cheech and Chong, at their best, weren't as funny. You wanted scary? James Cameron scared the bejeebers out of me in 1982 with his remake of "The Thing," then did it again in 1986 with the original "Aliens." Now that was real horror.


except ....


I caught them again here recently as an afternoon time slot filler. Meh!
You can catch a lot worse weekly in any one of a dozen Sci-fi TV shows.

Working the problem from the other end, as a youngster I hunted. Other than hamburger, I didn't by meat at a store until I was in college. The first time I bought fish, I almost asked the guy to wrap in it a brown paper bag so nobody would see what I had. It was really embarrassing to admit that I was having to buy it. That I couldn't simply supply my needs from the wild. I killed a lot of things, cleaned, cooked, and ate them. I knew at a very basic level that when I pulled the trigger and the gun went "bang," something was going to die. Cleanly if I could, but not always. I've heard a few thing leave this earth crying in distress because of my actions. I wasn't sadistic. I didn't enjoy seeing or hearing something in pain and fear. But I didn't lose a lot if sleep over it either. I knew then, and I still know now, that for me to live other things must die. But in those days it was a part of my daily existence, and I simply had developed mechanisms to deal with it.
My life has changed and I discover that it has been almost 30 years since I was in the woods to take game. And I also find that though my stated philosophy has not changed, I'm squeamish at the thought of killing an animal. I would if I had to, but it would bother me. This has not been a part of my routine, and I find that I am now sensitive to it.

Again, I realize that this is anecdotal. But my experience shows me that exposure to something normally unpleasant desensitizes you to it.