Multiple mass shootings took place in the US this past weekend. One of these mass shootings happened at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, where an 18-year-old white male shot and killed 10 people while injuring three others. The shooter’s alleged manifesto indicates that the attack was racially motivated – a theory that is backed up by the fact that 11 of the 13 victims were black. Assuming the manifesto is legitimate, the shooter is a self-described white supremacist and fascist, inspired by far-right rhetoric and conspiracy theories like the “Great Replacement” theory.
The Buffalo shooting is being extensively covered in US media, including Fox News. In the Sunday episode of Fox Report, host Jon Scott spoke with former ATF agent Bernard Zapor about the shootings that took place this past weekend. In a viral clip of the segment, Scott brought up violent video games. “It seems like these things have gotten so much worse since video games became so realistic and so violent,” Scott said. Scott then asked Zapor if video games desensitize people to “the actual results of pulling a trigger.”
Zapor did not outright blame violent video games for mass shootings in his response, instead pointing to digital communication and a perceived decline in face-to-face interaction in general, saying that “We’re communicating through a medium that was never really intended as a human being.”
Ever since the 1999 Columbine massacre, video games have been blamed for causing mass shootings and other violent acts. Numerous studies have been conducted over the years that have found no connection between video games and violence. There have been some studies to suggest that video games can increase aggresion in certain individuals, but it’s quite the leap to suggest that will then lead them to commit a mass shooting.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that violent video games are readily available all over the world, yet the US appears to be the only country that really struggles with mass shootings. It seems reasonable to conclude that there could be other factors at play here besides video games. Regardless, this is not the first time that the finger has been pointed at violent video games in the wake of a mass shooting, and unfortunately, it’s unlikely to be the last, either.
Mass shootings happen regularly in the US, and it’s not uncommon for someone to blame video games whenever they do. Sometimes it’s a news channel like was the case in this instance, but other times it’s a politician, like when former President Donald Trump blamed video games for mass shootings back in 2019. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have tried to blame video games for mass shootings over the years, and it’s a trend that seems unlikely to stop anytime soon.
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