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baldeagle wrote: Well, one thing we can do is pass laws that forbid violent movies or shows during hours when children are likely to be home. We actually used to have standards for TV that didn't permit such crap. There's nothing wrong with having such laws except that people don't want the laws. We could pass laws that don't allow violent videos to be sold to children.

I cringe every time I see someone suggest more laws to guarantee our children's safety. Just like 30.06 only keeps out law abiding carriers, not criminals, laws regarding violent and sexual exposure to kids through media will only affect the people who care enough to follow them, and likely, they aren't the problem anyhow. I should never have been allowed to watch rated r movies when I was a preteen, but I did. Why? Because my parents didn't care.
It all goes back to the parental unit. As parents it's our job to control what our kids are exposed to, and if they say or do something we don't approve of, it's our job to correct it.
One thing I think could be approved upon, is the rating system as a whole. I've walked out of pg-13 movies because it disgusted me the kind of things that people think are appropriate for even a 13 year old.
And since I originally posted in this thread I've been reading and considering the topic of exposure to certain types of movies and shows and while I still don't blame them for a persons decision to commit a crime, I do agree that they desensitize us to things.
There are a lot of shows or movies, even music I enjoyed as a teen but now as an adult I refuse to watch them or listen to them because I don't like the message they send.
And while I'm not saying I expect my children to become hardened criminals, we noticed that when we let our 5 and 7 year old watch a lot of power rangers, they play fight a lot more, which is fine until the play fighting turns to real fighting. So for now, they aren't allowed to watch power rangers.
My point is that it's the parents that need to be guarding their children and making the decisions based on their situation on what they'll allow. There's no one size fits all law that will turn this country around, it's what the parents do.

nightmare69 wrote:Video games and movies may be a small part of the problem but it's not the root. I've played and still play first person shooter video games and enjoy movies like Rambo. To lay all the blame on movies and games as the cause of violence is just as bad as the anti gunners blaming guns or assault weapons as the cause.

I agree as well. Both the idea that violent video games or movies or that guns are responsible for the current sick mass murder trend continues to leave out the largest factor. The person who chooses to commit the crime. I've known a lot of great people who pay these games or watch some of these movies yet would never commit murder. Regardless of what causes someone to murder or with what weapon they choose, the fact is, it was a person that chose to murder.they made a decision.

While I believe the problem is the person who chooses murder, I believe this trend of mass murder in seemingly safe places is partially due to media sensationalism of past crimes and the idea to "one up" the last or go out in a blaze of glory.

There are a lot of factors that can affect a person, and there are a lot of methods they choose to commit their crimes. But one factor remains the same consistently; the decision to become a killer.