I warned you! The Do Something Imperative will not be denied!
In the wake of the Newtown shootings, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller introduced a bill Tuesday night that would have the National Academy of Sciences examine any link between violent games and media and violent acts by children, industry sources say.
According to a copy of the “discussion draft” obtained by POLITICO, the legislation directs the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission to make “appropriate arrangements” with the NAS to enable the study.
“Recent court decisions demonstrate that some people still do not get it,” Rockefeller said in a statement. “They believe that violent video games are no more dangerous to young minds than classic literature or Saturday morning cartoons. Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better. These court decisions show we need to do more and explore ways Congress can lay additional groundwork on this issue. This report will be a critical resource in this process. I call on my colleagues to join to me in passing this important legislation quickly.”
Again: Zero (or relatively trivial) changes will be made to gun laws. It’s just too hard. But video games? That’s a-whole-nother ballgame. Because we have to do something you know?
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American politicians are scared to stand up to the NRA, which floods their pockets with cash. Hence they’ll go after the entertainment industry for a shakedown. Follow the money.
The entertainment industry gives Democrats an awful lot of dough, not to mention cultural cache. The NRA advocates for the rights of its members using their contributions. The former makes a great deal of its money from the fantasy of gun use while the latter is traditionally concerned with the reality of gun ownership. There is no question the NRA is powerful, but isn’t that because they have lots of passionate (and completely voluntary) members?
Unfortunately, you’re wrong. The NRA has a $200m/year budget. Lots of cashola to buy off and pressure politicians. That is the reason pols are scared of them; the NRA acts like the mafia.
The NRA has a lot of money because it has a lot of members who really care about the cause, rather than a wafer thin collection of millionaires, billionaires and academics managing charitable trusts. Frankly the NRA leadership is far more conciliatory than the membership, who has several times had to drag the leadership kicking and screaming to the fight.
Guns should be banned nonetheless. The NRA is living in the 1700s.