Put a Tax on Video-games to reduce gun violence

[Inverselaw]

That apparently is the plan of the Connecticut legislature.

I dont have much to say about this honestly. I dont live there and its unlikely to have any effect outside of the state. Though frankly if they really wanted to do something they could just enforce the already existing rating system. I wouldn't exactly mind if 9 year olds couldent play condemned. But then again since 9 year olds dont have much spending money I cant help but think that the blame lies somewhere else.

[NathanH]

Sounds like orc mischief to me.

[Nalano]

This is a tax distributors will pass on directly to purchasers, and it's somewhat misdirected.

I much prefer Congress' idea of mandatory insurance on guns themselves.

[ado]

Wut? O.o

Why not increase the tax on gun and ammo purchases instead?

[SirKicksalot]

They should start with those freedom-hating French games!

[Nalano]

Wut? O.o

Well don't put too much stock in it: It's mostly bluster to satiate Connecticut residents' demands that something should be done (and something should be done) so they're basically taking, for lack of a better analogy, the shotgun approach.

[Caddybear]

They should start with those freedom-hating French games!

Everything I've heard about Fox News is true.
The world is now a much scarier place.

[NathanH]

They should start with those freedom-hating French games!

I love articles that obviously want to paint something as The Devil but all the evidence in the article says "yeah, this is basically ok".

[gundato]

Wut? O.o

Why not increase the tax on gun and ammo purchases instead?

Because the NRA know how to lobby (bribe congressman/threaten to organize people to not vote for said politician). So attacking them is not beneficial to getting re-elected (because people are more likely to not vote for you out of spite than they are to vote for you because they like you).

Crap like this reminds me of the talk Michio Kaku gave at a Super Computing conference last year. In that context, it was how HPC (well, people who research computers in general) need lobbyists to get government money and beneficial laws. Same thing here.

Gaming needs to get some good slimy lobbyists to deal with this crap. We already have lobbyists who, to varying degrees of success, try and get piracy turned into an offense to be punished with the death penalty. We need lobbyists to say "Yo, this industry makes money and is awesome. Stop using us as the scape goat and go attack a different industry."

[Berzee]

State-funded Kevlar for everyone.

[Nalano]

Gaming needs to get some good slimy lobbyists to deal with this crap.

Or, y'know, we could fix the fucking system.

Just sayin'.

[gundato]

Or, y'know, we could fix the fucking system.

Just sayin'.

And we can end world hunger and make an army of Stana Katic clones whose sole purpose in life is to walk around in lingerie and alternatingly refer to us as Batman and/or Captain Mal (I like Castle, but he is no Malcolm Reynolds).

Or we can try and make things better by working through (and subverting) the existing system.

[Dead Herald]

Because the NRA know how to lobby (bribe congressman/threaten to organize people to not vote for said politician). So attacking them is not beneficial to getting re-elected (because people are more likely to not vote for you out of spite than they are to vote for you because they like you).

Crap like this reminds me of the talk Michio Kaku gave at a Super Computing conference last year. In that context, it was how HPC (well, people who research computers in general) need lobbyists to get government money and beneficial laws. Same thing here.

Gaming needs to get some good slimy lobbyists to deal with this crap. We already have lobbyists who, to varying degrees of success, try and get piracy turned into an offense to be punished with the death penalty. We need lobbyists to say "Yo, this industry makes money and is awesome. Stop using us as the scape goat and go attack a different industry."

I don't suppose you have a link to that speech. Michio Kaku really rings my bell, in an intellectual manner. ^_~

[gundato]

I don't suppose you have a link to that speech. Michio Kaku really rings my bell, in an intellectual manner. ^_~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RvxP9fcV9I

Not a great video, but it should give you a starting point.

[Heliocentric]

Tax on people, free guns for all bears, anything less isn't american!

[Nalano]

And we can end world hunger and make an army of Stana Katic clones whose sole purpose in life is to walk around in lingerie and alternatingly refer to us as Batman and/or Captain Mal (I like Castle, but he is no Malcolm Reynolds).

Or we can try and make things better by working through (and subverting) the existing system.

Systems like this aren't fucking intractable, and at this stage fixing it is easier than trying to get anything fucking passed in Congress anyway.

[Fanbuoy]

So this basically means that unless there's another shooting, people will use this as evidence that gaming is to blame? Great..

[alms]

Tax on people, free guns for all bears, anything less isn't american

Panda wins thread.

[ado]

And we can end world hunger and make an army of Stana Katic clones whose sole purpose in life is to walk around in lingerie and alternatingly refer to us as Batman and/or Captain Mal (I like Castle, but he is no Malcolm Reynolds).

Or we can try and make things better by working through (and subverting) the existing system.

I vote for the Stana Katic clone\to be called Batman option. It is the more feasible option I think.

What I hate about all this is that they made this system seem acceptable to people.

[Kadayi]

And we can end world hunger and make an army of Stana Katic clones whose sole purpose in life is to walk around in lingerie and alternatingly refer to us as Batman and/or Captain Mal (I like Castle, but he is no Malcolm Reynolds).

*Kadayi would very much like to visit this alternative reality*

Can we make some Olivia Wilde clones as well?

But yeah back on OT, this 'Tax the games' idea is just fucked, and is a complete denial of the real issue of gun culture being a massive problem.