Google+

'Games a bigger problem than guns' senator says

Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) says games "affect people"

Words: on January 30, 2013
Back to Article

63 comments

  • Unoriginal - January 31, 2013 11:15 a.m.

    Guns actually happen to affect people, Mr. Senator. It makes them dead. That's kinda major.

  • tahunua001 - January 31, 2013 2:04 p.m.

    you know what also 'makes people dead'? Knives, baseball bats, fireworks, car crashes, alcohol, tobacco, vitamins, water and a million other substances that can kill you if you use them incorrectly. who's calling for ban on those things?

  • FOZ - January 31, 2013 3:36 p.m.

    I think everyone is thoroughly tired of that fallacy. Knives are used in craftsmanship and cooking, baseball bats are for sports, fireworks are entertainment, car crashes are not an object and also not something that can be regulated, alcohol (recreational, of course) is a leisure activity, vitamins? What? And life can't exist on Earth without water, so good luck banning that. All of those objects were created for a practical application. Guns were created to and have primarily been used for, in literally millions of instances, killing.

  • Eightboll812 - January 31, 2013 7:30 p.m.

    Only a PETA member would say guns have no practical use other than killing. The rest of us rational people would say that killing animals isn't the same as killing humans. And killing in [true instances of] national defense is preferable to, let's say, being the French. I suppose sports like the biathlon also aren't "sports" but rather just killing targets. Not such a fallacy after all....

  • FOZ - January 31, 2013 10:01 p.m.

    Killing animals is still KILLING. It is an instrument intended to harm, you know, a weapon, unlike, say, alcohol, baseball bats, or uh, vitamins, apparently. Just because you can shoot something other than living beings with it, suddenly it has nothing to do with the very-deliberate and often legally-sanctioned deaths of millions of people? Alcohol is a substance, not an instrument of death (also bizarre to bring this up, because quite a few people do get in trouble for misuse of alcohol), cars are vital for transportation, you use a knife to cut your food. What practical application does a gun have around your house or for transporting you?

  • brickman409 - February 1, 2013 6:44 p.m.

    how are you supposed to overthrow a government without guns? did you think the American revolution would have gotten anywhere without guns? it is a human right to overthrow a government. And remember bullets change governments far faster than votes do.

  • FOZ - February 3, 2013 8:19 p.m.

    If that's how you look at it, okay. Makes sense to me. But you made a pretty bad first impression by comparing a machine that fires metal at high velocity to water and car crashes. "If this then this" is not a solid argument.

  • ObliqueZombie - January 31, 2013 10:25 a.m.

    I am so done with this.

  • Rub3z - January 31, 2013 10:24 p.m.

    Achievement Unlocked: 100% Agreement Rating

  • tahunua001 - January 31, 2013 9:12 a.m.

    first of all let me say I am a gun enthusiast as well as a gamer. I spent my childhood years playing Wolfenstien and Doom and being raised in rural america of course I owned a bb gun and I used it all the time(killing small animals is also a warning sign of future homicidal rage as I understand it). I grew up and the guns got bigger and scarier. I've been in the military and have 'training in lethal force' and I have been on an active combat deployment(a warning sign of mental instability). I have owned AR15s, AK47 clones, SKS, and other 'scary guns' yet I have never once felt that I need to walk into a crowded building and start shooting everything that moves. why is this? because I was taught very early on that every living creature has value. the problem that these politicians are completely ignoring and maybe even the media portraying them and quite possibly taking out of context is that you can not point the finger at the first amendment to save the 2nd. Both of these portions of the bill of rights are interdependent and without free speech, we can't defend our other rights but without the firepower to stand up to a corrupt government we can not defend the first... It's a vicious cycle. crazy people are crazy for a reason. if the sandy hook shooting would have been a mass stabbing there would not be a huge outcry to ban kitchen knives with blades longer than 5 inches would there?

  • SilentDark - January 31, 2013 7:22 a.m.

    Sometimes I wish America would just sink under the sea. There is only so much stupid one country can put out before it breaks the fabric of space time. Tell you wnat senator I'll throw a disk at you and then shoot you in the kneecap and we see which one affects you more. Honestly there should be some kind of basic intelligence test for people who run for government.

  • TheCakeIsaPie - January 31, 2013 8:30 a.m.

    If the US sinks into the sea, that would also kill all of the smart, reasonable Americans (including the person who wrote this article). Nice try, though.

  • Silvercloak - January 31, 2013 2:17 p.m.

    ROFL Excellent, I'll be there to youtube it when you do that!!

  • Hobogonigal - January 31, 2013 4:40 a.m.

    Of course, because Americans can kill each other with disks and digital memory space whilst guns are not made for the express purpose of murder. People should own guns, just not everyone. Some people are a little special so restrictions need to be put in place for ownership. I say the same for the videogame age restrictions though, young children should not legally be allowed to buy adult videogames, Then of course it just leads to the whole 'the parents are to blame' thing...

  • jh4911 - January 31, 2013 2:27 a.m.

    "Can you envision a way of supporting the universal background checks Will?" Pause Senator used dodge! "I think video games kill the baby Jesus" Dodge is supereffective!!!

  • Jeff the Fridge - January 30, 2013 11:55 p.m.

    Insert generic rant about how this is stupid because this guys probably never played a game in his life

  • Balaska - January 30, 2013 10:58 p.m.

    George Washington believed that the Constitution should be reviewed every 19 years and changed if needed. The Constitution is about 217 years out of date. Which makes sense, there used to be laws about whichcraft, homosexuality and being not white. We have scrapped those laws as they proved to be stupid. Any system that is inflexible is unsuitable.

  • Imgema - January 30, 2013 8:05 p.m.

    Of course games affect people more. I mean a gun can only kill you or someone else, big deal. I don't think killing someone would affect his life anyway. Because he would be dead, right?

  • winner2 - January 30, 2013 6:40 p.m.

    I'm starting to think that people of a certain caliber of dumbassery emanate negative feelings throughout the world. It's like the world is slowly deteriorating because these people are that stupid; they have become forces of nature. Also, the biggest flaw in this argument (when voiced by anyone) is that they fail to specify what kind of games they're talking about. The word "games" constitutes every damn game ever, so saying "games" are the problem is literally saying "chess is a bigger problem than guns" or even "kinectimals is a bigger problem than guns". The argument falls apart like dropping a cube of salt in water.

  • hollings40 - January 30, 2013 5:47 p.m.

    If there is any problem that has anything to do with games (theres really not), it'd be the idiots who are insanely crazy enough to think "gee that was really cool in that game I played, I have a great idea, lets go do that in real life!" theres a reason they're called GAMES, if you're stupid enough to think you should do that in real life..

  • JaeNice - January 30, 2013 5:37 p.m.

    Funny because I believe that politicians who give up their own personal morals and beliefs to become puppets for their political party and lobbyists, putting their special interest ahead of what's in the best interest of the country has more of a negative affect on people than video games. Shit politicians and shit parents, they're what's wrong with the country. A fucking cancer.

  • shawksta - January 30, 2013 5 p.m.

    I like how he's acting as if Pointing out games for the ten thousandth time will help.Force the ESRB so parents aren't stupid because they ARE, your on a wild goose chase if your just gonna say the word Violent games every f*cking conference

  • MetroidPrimeRib - January 30, 2013 4:47 p.m.

    http://www.merriam-webster com/dictionary/scapegoat http://www.merriam-webster com/dictionary/lobby

  • Mattdawarrior - January 30, 2013 4:41 p.m.

    "Holy shit, I just finished Journey and now I totally want to eat babies." - Every gamer ever, apparently.

  • Child Of Death - January 30, 2013 4:36 p.m.

    I hate other people.

Showing 21-40 of 63 comments

Join the Discussion
Add a comment
(HTML tags are not allowed.)
Characters remaining: 5000

Connect with GamesRadar


Featured Guides

Connect with Facebook

Log in using Facebook to share comments, games, status update and other activity easily with your Facebook feed.