On Dec. 14, 2012, the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting took place. This event was so shocking that many believed it would lead to the end of the gun control debate and the start of real, impactful gun legislation. 

Since that shooting, more than 2,225 mass shootings have happened in the United States. President Trump believes that video games, not the permissive access to high capacity assault rifles in America, are to blame.

“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace … we must stop or substantially reduce this and it has to begin immediately,” Trump said after the brutal shootings that took place in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in August.

However, contrary to the rhetoric that Trump uses, researchers have done extensive studies into the correlation between violent video games, the impact they have on the youth that play them and whether they may influence someone to commit a heinous act.

“The idea that violent video games drive real-world aggression is a popular one, but it hasn’t tested very well over time. Despite interest in the topic by parents and policy-makers, the research has not demonstrated that there is cause for concern,” Andrew Przybylski, a professor at Oxford University said.

Przybylski led a study that collected data from 2,008 teenagers, parents and caretakers, while also using the Entertainment Software Rating Board system to quantify the level of violence in video games as opposed to using players opinions.

Since research has concluded that video games play no role in the levels of aggression in youth, why has Trump chosen to ignore these studies and continue under this narrative? A large reason is the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the money they spend on lobbying that helps to prevent impactful legislation from being passed.

According to OpenSecrets.org, the NRA spends $1,690,000 per year on lobbying, a remarkable number for a nonprofit organization.

According to the Pew Research Center, the gun death rate in America is far greater than in most other nations, primarily developed ones such as ours. The U.S. gun death rate was 10.6 per 100,000 people in 2016, and that is a rate far higher than countries with far stricter gun laws such as Canada (2.1 per 100,000) and Australia (1.0 per 100,000). 

Both Canada and Australia have violent video games just like we do, and both countries have a fraction of the gun deaths we do. The problem is not the video games; it is the guns, and someone should probably let President Trump know.

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian