Computer Underground Railroad

Monday, December 24, 2012

Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right? - Yahoo! News Response

There is a press headline that reads "Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right?" - Yahoo! News From the Yahoo article "The NRA says the problem with mass shootings like the recent one at the Sandy Hook grade school in Connecticut is not too many unregulated guns but violent video games. But most academic and government research does not support the gun lobby's charge.”
Guns have been around for hundreds of years, video games, not so much. Given the date closeness of video games vs. guns and school shootings, it does not take a rocket scientist to get a clue...within 20 years of the patent being filed for video games, the first school shooting happened by a man who was trained as a Marine. I believe the world is so messed up is because we listen to the advice of “experts” over intelligent people with common sense!

Here’s a touch of common sense in the emotional situation resulting from the school shooting in Newtown, CT. How long have guns been around? (1364 – first recorded use of a firearm) How long have video games been around? (patent filed in 1947) Put both dates up to the list of mass shootings in America and see which was closest. Common sense says that guns were around for hundreds of years and within 20 years of the filing of the patent for what we know as video games, the mass shootings started, August 1, 1966.

Also, there is a lot being said about these shootings being false flag operations designed to create fear in people.

Below are my research notes as I look deeper into this issue. Let me know what you think.

History of guns

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/

“Gun Timeline

Historical timeline of the development of modern weapons starting at 1364 with the first recorded use of a firearm and ending in 1892 with the introduction of automatic handguns.

1364 - First recorded use of a firearm.
1380 - Hand guns are known across Europe.
1400s - The matchlock gun appears.

Before the matchlock, guns were fired by holding a burning wick to a "touch hole" in the barrel igniting the powder inside. A shooter uses one hand for firing, and a prop to steady the gun.The first device, or "lock," for mechanically firing a gun is the matchlock. Powder is held in a "flash pan," and ignited by a wick, or match, in a movable clamp. Both hands remain on the gun, vastly improving aim. Early matchlock guns are extremely rare. The matchlock shown here was made around 1640, and is typical of the muskets used by militia in Colonial America.

1900 – Historical firearms period concludes. Contemporary period begins”

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History of Video Games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games

The history of video games goes as far back as the 1940s, when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr.and Estle Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an invention they described as a "cathode ray tube amusement device." Video gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and 1980s, when were introduced to the general public. Since then, video gaming has become a popular form ofand a part of modern culture in most parts of the world. There are currently considered to be eight generations of video game consoles, with the First mass school shooting

Charles Whitman: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/whitman/charlie_2.html

August 1, 1966 “In June of 1959, shortly before Charlie Whitman's 18th birthday, tensions with his father came to a head. Charlie came home drunk from a night out with friends, whereupon C.A. beat him and threw him into the pool, where he nearly drowned. A few days later he applied for enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. He left for basic training on July 6, 1959. Charlie spent the first part of his stint with the Marines at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. He worked hard at being a good Marine, following orders dutifully and studying hard for his various examinations. He earned a Good Conduct Medal, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, and a Sharpshooter's Badge. Chillingly, the records of his scores on shooting tests show that he scored 215 out of 250 possible points, that he excelled at rapid fire from long distances, and that he seemed to be more accurate when shooting at moving targets. Captain Joseph Stanton, Executive Officer of the 2nd Marine Division remembered, "He was a good marine. I was impressed with him. I was certain he'd make a good citizen." It was important to Charlie that he be the best Marine he could be. After years of belittlement and abuse from his father, he was anxious to prove himself as a man. Every opportunity for advancement was a chance to distance himself from his brutal upbringing. The Naval Enlisted Science Education Program (NESEP) seemed tailor-made for the up-and-comer Charlie fancied himself to be. NESEP was a scholarship program designed to train engineers who would later become officers. Charlie took a competitive exam and then went before a selection committee which chose him for the prestigious award. He would be expected to earn an engineering degree at a selected college and follow that with Officer's Candidate School. His tuition and books would be paid for by the Marine Corps. He would also receive an extra $250 a month.

”Timeline Deadliest modern mass shootings http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2012/12/14/20432891.html http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/