As an advocate for Americans’ Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, I’ve got no problem with Call of Duty or other combat-oriented videogames. Anything that encourages Americans to safely and responsibly exercise their 2A-protected rights is a good thing, not a bad thing. We can argue over whether or not violent videogames in general—or specific games in specific (e.g., Grand Theft Auto)—accomplish that goal. But then, the First Amendment. Even though proponents of civilian disarmament will see the timing of the release of COD’s new machine gun as an affront to the memory of the victims of the Sandy Hook slaughter, it isn’t. ‘Nuff said?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

49 COMMENTS

  3. I have a problem here, with the blurring of reality and video game. The next active shooter may cut his teeth on this and the next generation of SSRIs.

    REAL WORLD, guys.

    • Call of duty and realism, o you. This game is as realistic as gun control keeping guns out of criminals hands. Getting shot/exploded in real life is vastly different than the game where you sit behind a corner and let your legs grow back. That and most shooters fantasy is quickly interrupted when confronted with someone who can actually fight back.

    • What exactly is real world now? The electronic doo dads the military uses nowadays aren’t far off from what kids do in these games and it’s only gonna get more so.

      Blaming games, meds or guns are all equally weak.

      • Idk man, blaming meds makes a lot of sense…

        For instance, we had an entire generation of men on meth, you might know them as the men who won WWII.
        Then their kids grew up to be the children of LSD, a drug that does forever alter the nervous system. Nothing new came around, until the 90s, when treatments for childhood psychiatric disorders were all the rage… unfortunately very few of those drugs were tested for children. So now we have an entire generation that grew up taking untested psychoactive drugs.

        Something bad will definitely result from this.

        • The psychotropics in the ’90s made the difference between my life being unlivable and having the productive, working, tax paying life I’ve enjoyed. A year ago I gave up a nice apartment to move back in with my folks to take take of my Dad who is dying of cancer. Those meds allowed me to be in a position to do so.

          This isn’t directed at you specifically my friend, and I appreciate your comment, but if you aren’t a doctor or you haven’t needed said medications to make your life livable you need to step back and look for a different subject to comment on.

          Blaming SSRI’s on a fruitcake shooter holds as much credence as blaming gun, games or movies. Out of the millions that are either on meds, play Black Ops, watch current action movies or have access to guns (or all of them) is an excruciatingly small number of folks that do bad things.

          Bad things happen. It is a fact of life and we can either screw around blaming this or that or we can focus on what was DIFFERENT about these shooters.

  4. i gave up on online games when i was in a lobby on modern warfare two and was one of two people of the twelve who did not have a gamertag related to pot.

    • I’d be all on board with legalizing pot if I heard an overwelming message in the pro pot debate as ‘how dare government tell me what substances I choose to put in my own body’, but with the same states/people pushing for marijuana legalization, and then turning around and pushing for 2nd amendment infringement, it’s clear that their message isn’t ‘get your laws out of my life’ but, ‘I just wanna get high’.

      There is a difference. And until they realize it, I’m not going to push for an agenda that’s clearly intended to allow us to keep ourselves high so that we don’t realize how much government is overreaching the duties given to it in the Constitution.

      Marijuana is our country’s new Soma.

      • What did Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont or Washington do which was so bad for 2A? Ya know its legal in 18 states, not just California.

      • As far as I know my beloved Arizona is the only state to legalize marijuana AND pass Constitutional Carry in the same year. Plus we give the Feds the collective middle finger every chance we get.

        We just need to screen for out of state libs. They completely fuck up their home state then want to move here and do the same.

  5. i’ve played tons of Super Mario back in the day, and not once did i ever jump up and break a stack of floating bricks with my head. Nope, never.
    I do get bigger with mushrooms though.

  6. Same general premis to me: blame the thing not the person. Remember rock and roll was the DEVILS music too, but not all of us are cannibal killers roaming the land for blood are we? Moderation in all things, as well as personal responsibility. Nuff said…

    I’ve been a video gamer since as far back as I can remember, cutting my teeth on the Atari 2600. Call of Duty rocks, but I’m a Battlefield fan myself…:)

  7. On a related note, is anybody here an Arma 2 fan? My son introduced it to me awhile ago, and it’s one of the few non-strategy games that I actually enjoy.

    • i played the demo, or free version, or whatever. They scale down the graphics, so it looked like shit. It seems to be about as realistic (hard!) as one of those games can get.

      • I’m no combat veteran, but it’s definitely more realistic than COD or other such games. Most of the people I’ve met in playing Arma are vets themselves, and they seem to think it’s head and shoulders above regular first person shooters.

        • It gets mixed ratings, but I’ll have to check it out.

          What game I play depends on my mood. If I want twitch, CoD (or Unreal Tournament with Instagib). Some thinking (and vehicles), Battlefield 3. Batshit crazy loot whoring, Borderlands. Might have to pick up Arma for more thinking.

        • Same here.

          I’m more into Battlefield 3 because of destructible terrain, vehicles, bullet physics, and huge-ass maps.

          I tried CoD for a while but I got sick of needing to kill a guy with TWO .50 cal shots and those dumb kids running around with a shotgun on each hand.

          I get instant my gratification buzz from Counter-Strike w/c for me beats CoD.

          What was my “thinking man’s FPS”? It was the old Rainbow Six: Rouge Spear.

          If ARMA feels like that old game, I suppose I’ll give it a try.

        • Either Rainbow Six or the original Ghost Recon. Get shot once in a non-vital area and your performance is severely degraded. Get shot once in a vital area, you die.

        • +1 to R6 and GR. Never did beat the final mission in R6. Kept getting stuck in a bottleneck that I could never flank or get to cover. Drove me nuts for days before I gave up. Did love Ghost Recon with a passion, though.

    • I have actually heard of Arma 2. My friends boy plays it.

      I think it is like a giant sandbox rather than the clear and cut action of other shoot em ups. I was actually intrigued by the concepts of driving vehicles, infantry tactics, etc.

      Its my understanding that once you get the learning curve down, its very addicting and has a huge cult following.

  8. I don’t buy into the widely popular claim that if you plop a healthy teenager down in front of an Xbox for three hours and then take him to the range that he’s going to suddenly display abnormally violent behavior and lose control of his emotions.

    It’s the same bullshyte mentality people were clamoring on about in the 80’s when some kid committed suicide and then the cops would find a couple of Metallica or Judas Priest records under his bed. “It was the subliminal messages!” people cried. Talk about lame excuses, sheesh. Some of those poor kids had legitimate mental issues their parents just swept under the rug because they didn’t want to be ostracized themselves.

    • Yep. I’m 21 now, played Halo and call of duty games since I was 11 and was shooting squirrels long before that. I have not killed any real people yet and don’t have any plans to (least they force my hand).

      Video games are the youngest and least understood youth fad of today as any great scapegoat is.

    • Remember when it was “Dungeons & Dragons” that was going to result in satan-worship and killing sprees?

      • Ironically, I’m sure the bullying D&D players receive for playing Dungeons and Dragons has been a factor in at least one mass shooting.

        • I’ve played lots D&D, and I have yet to summon a single demon!

          I have spent far too much time being a powergaming, min/maxing douchebag, but I’m reformed now! Emphasizing the narrative!

          If you don’t know what any of that means, you’re probably better off. Or boring. Can never decide.

        • “Emphasizing the narrative…” That’s what all the old gamers say. I bet your favorite character is still the one that had 18 dex and couldn’t be hit by anybody.
          🙂

  9. Well, I think it’s good. Anything that encourages normalization of guns and the feeling of ownership of them that COD and other FPS’s instill as you unlock and upgrade them over time is only a positive thing.

  10. On a side note since there appears to be small gamer population here any way interested in a gun owners gamer…match?

    • Probably because most people’s jobs would frown upon you using a work comp towatch a video showing video games. I’m sure depending on your job, it’s probably almost as bad as watching prOn.

  13. I love COD:BO2 also if anyone else here games and enjoys some War games, you MUST check out Spec Ops: The Line, I was absolutely blown away by how amazing and hardcore this game was, steam has it on sale for under ten bucks most of the time and it’s worth five times that, once you start you will not stop until it’s complete and you’ll love it, highly recommended.

    Here’s my review from steam:

    The most brutal, painfully thought provoking “game” I’ve ever played. A simulation is more like it, a simulation of a soldiers mind spiraling into PTSD. Mind is officially blown.

    Controls are kinda wacky, had to change them to standard but the enviro/gfx/gameplay/story/music and voice acting were all top notch, it’s short but well worth it a play, the combat was intense and skill based as well is the multiplayer. 10/10 but not for kids, brutal warfare with adult theme and plot.

    Here’s my bro’s review after he played it based on my telling him about it:

    Spec Ops: The Line is a great story-driven shooter that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire game through. Sure, the shooting mechanics are a bit off at times (use a controller!) and the setting and action sequences can get quite repetitive but the games saving grace is a fantastic and well told story. Just do yourself a favor an go into this one without reading anything and you will have a blast. 7.5/10

    • +1 LOL, at the skillz of the online gamer.

      But hey, judging a firearm by its weight is a dicey proposition. There’s always the possibility of one bullet left in the chamber…

  15. “Anything that encourages Americans to safely and responsibly exercise their 2A-protected rights is a good thing, not a bad thing. ” Watch the video again. Shooting people, and in a skate park (not even something that resembles a combat zone.) Not sure I see the connection with safe and responsible exercise of 2A-like rights.

    Then again, I don’t full-on blame games either, but rather parents who don’t appreciate the hidden psychological dangers of video games. There is something to be said for the desensatization to violence. Happens to hardened combat veterans, and I can also see how video games could do the same to youg, impressionable minds. Once you start accepting some level of violence as normal, and the use of deadly force as appropriate, nothing good can ensue.

    • I’ve seen a study in kids pediatricians office citing loss of executive function in prefrontal cortex- less ability to make complicated decisions impatience etc but i cant find time for the link gotta get back to BF3 before i get kicked…

    • Seriously tho Col. Dave Grossman warns strongly about violent games in his Bulletproof Mind seminars…i think its like anything else that has the potential for abuse or addiction…depends on the person and not fair to generalize…

    • There’s also a lot to be said about differentiating fantasy from reality. Underlying all of the “video games are harmful” theories I’ve ever come across seems to exist the notion that whatever a gamer experiences in-game will unavoidably bleed over into real life, corrupting his/her morals and sensibilities. I just don’t see it. I’ve never heard anyone suggest that becoming an expert Wii bowler will enable you to bowl a perfect game at the lanes, yet the presumption that playing violent games will make the player more violent, or at least more accepting of violence, is pervasive (and perverse).

      I suppose it’s fair to say that decades of exposure to movie and video game violence has desensitized me to movie and video game violence. But I still find all types of actual violence repugnant. I’m no less sensitive to any action that causes harm.

      Anyway, as to the connection between the game and responsibly exercising 2A rights, there is one but it’s not really represented in the video. In my own case, FPS games like Call of Duty were partly responsible for my interest in firearms. Lots of time with in-game guns based on real world models got me curious about the real world varieties. Eventually I picked up a 92FS for target shooting. Then I got a few others as I discovered that guns are like Pokemon. Over time, more exposure to real firearms and “gun culture” has helped me to appreciate why I have the right to go plink at the range, which is to say that the fun stuff is merely a side effect of the rights actually described by the 2A. I realized I’ve got some responsibilities to live up to, which is why I’ve been reading TTAG, writing my reps, getting my CCW, etc.

      So, yeah, there’s a path, although it’s not really apparent from that video. The review of that game gun kind of reminded me of a nutnfancy video, for whatever that was worth. 🙂

      • You say “I just don’t see it. ” I do. I guess we need to find a serious study to test the question, but it still makes sense to me. Seeing how when I let my 7 /yo play COD or Modern Warfare, it quickly becomes all he wants to do and it increases his already impulsive reactions, I don’t want to be the test case.

        • Well, I’ll grant you that video games are addictive. They’re designed to be.. (link contains nsfw language, but makes very valid points).

          As a lifelong gamer in my late 30s, my humble opinion is that morals and values are instilled by parents, not games. That’s my own experience at least, and why I don’t buy into the idea that the subject matter and mechanics of games corrupt people. The addictive nature of games, on the other hand, is something to watch out for.

          If you’re seeing signs of impulsiveness in your 7 year old, I’d blame the addictive factors built into the game mechanics long before the violent content. In COD online it’s a never-ending treadmill of leveling up weapons, and micro-rewards like banners and icons that let you display your gaming feats to others. No matter how much you play there are always incentives like these just out of reach, pushing you to play a little more. That’s what gets people hooked on that game in particular.

          My advice would be to place limits on game time, and encourage your young gamer to maintain other interests and outlets besides gaming. Also, realize that the same properties that make games like COD addictive also help to condition the ability to do grinding work in the pursuit of goals, which can be a useful life skill. If you show interest in that aspect of the game and play your cards right you might be able to channel some of that energy into helping your 7yo excel academically and pursue other hobbies and goals.

          Just my $.02, and don’t mean to make assumptions or tell you what to do since I don’t know you or your 7yo, but I do know games and I hope my insights are helpful.

Comments are closed.