We're officially at two decades of politicians blaming video games for gun violence instead of addressing, well, you know...

[View this email in your browser]( [Open Ars Technica in your browser]( [Ars Orbital HQ] [Ted Cruz grew up playing video games]( The Onion headline really says it all ([over and over and over]( again: [‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.]( A lot of things likely need to change in the US in the light of Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton becoming shorthand for tragedies within a single week. But once again in light of a mass shooting in America, instead of talking about genuine change topics of deflection have instead taken over the discourse. The tragedy at Columbine happened in 1999, meaning we're officially at two decades of politicians partially blaming video games for gun violence instead of addressing, well, you know... Luckily in 2019, we may have reached a point where the media at large recognizes this tactic is coming and treats it accordingly (more "that's ridiculous and here's why" than "there's evidence on both sides"). At this point, there are years of studies on video games and violence (for just a small sampling: [2005]( [2007]( [2008]( [2012]( [2018]( etc). So for this week's Orbital Transmission, we're sharing what our current political leaders are saying in light of more gun violence not because it's an argument with merit, but because it once again showcases a fundamental misunderstanding of both the problem and of video games and entertainment at large. Folks may not share much in common with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, for instance, but [at least that generation of politicians grew up with a controller in hand]( and may eventually move all of us past this tired talking point. —[@NathanMattise]( [Advertisement]( [Image not meant for display] [Image not meant for display] [Powered by Live Intent]( [Ad Choices]( Orbital Transmission 08.07.2019 [President Trump in 2018 at his video game summit]( This isn't [President Trump's first time blaming video games]( Early last year in light of the tragic shootings at Parkland High School, President Trump [took aim at entertainment](. "We have to do something about what [kids are] seeing and how they're seeing it," Trump said during a corresponding White House meeting about school safety. "And also video games. I'm hearing more and more people say the level of violence in video games is shaping more and more people's thoughts." President Trump, unlike most of his predecessors, has used his likeness for video games in the past (his take on Roller Coaster Tycoon, an Apprentice game for PC, etc.). And he even said [he allowed his then 11-year-old son to enjoy]( such games or movies. But that didn't stop another video game blame game, this one [resulting in a White House summit]( with critics and game executives that seemingly led to no changes. [Trump's Roller Coaster Tycoon knock-off]( And the president was [happy to revisit video games this week]( In fairness to President Trump, he didn't start the video game merry-go-round this time. On Fox News in the day after the shooting in El Paso, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took his turn [bringing up games as a root cause of violence](. "How long are we going to let, for example, and ignore at the federal level, where we can do something about it, the video game industry?" Patrick asked. "In this manifesto, that we believe is from the shooter... he talks about living out his super-soldier fantasy on Call of Duty." This sentiment soon became echoed by other Republican lawmakers, and the president found time to mention video games during his formal address to the nation in light of the tragic weekend. "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society," he said. "This includes the gruesome and grizzly video games that are now commonplace." [Biden's 2013 video game summit at the White House]( Blaming video games is [not exclusively a Republican tactic]( Back in early 2013, President Obama felt compelled to outline a plan to reduce gun violence in the aftermath of tragedies in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater and Sandy Hook Elementary. In more than 3,000 words he said to the nation, [16 focused on video games]( "And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds." This led to the [2013 White House summit on video game violence]( conducted by Vice President Joe Biden. He wasn't ready to let the industry entirely off the hook by the end of this meeting, but as former White House Senior Policy Advisor for Digital Media Constance Steinkuehler told Ars last year, Biden went from referring to industry members as "scumbags" before the meeting to acknowledging that “we have quite a bit of data that shows that this is not a substantive relationship” between video game violence and real violence after viewing the data. [Biden talking with video game execs at the White House]( Today, Biden [offers a muddled message]( on video game violence Fast forward to 2019, some of Biden's opponents in the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee have already come out against the idea that video games play a role in these recent tragedies. But on CNN this week, Biden himself [seemingly fumbled through the topic](. Host Anderson Cooper brought up President Trump's previous statements on video games as a potential cause of real violence, noting that Biden had "kind of rolled [his] eyes" at the notion."I've talked about it [violent games] too," Biden responded. "It is not healthy to have these games teaching the kids the dispassionate notion that you can shoot somebody and kind of blow their brains out." But when Cooper pointed out that video games are popular in Japan, a country with extremely low levels of violent crime, Biden jumped in. "That's my point... It's not in and of itself the reason we have this carnage on our streets." [Advertisement]( [Image not meant for display] [Image not meant for display] [Powered by Live Intent]( [Ad Choices]( [Facebook Logo]( [Twitter Logo]( [YouTube Logo]( [Instagram Logo]( Copyright © 2019 Ars Technica / Condé Nast, All rights reserved. You are receiving our newsletter because you signed up at Ars Technica (). 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