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But is Trump correct? Are video games a contributing factor, a catalyst, to armed violence?
The science is not "in." The issue remains unsolved, and opinion goes both ways.
Trump spoke with the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) less than a month since the shooting which killed 17. It was the latest mass shooting in the USA with over 30,000 gun-related deaths, mostly from suicide followed by handguns, many of which are obtained illegally and used in gun violence in Democratically controlled cities with tough gun control laws that are often not enforced by law enforcement.
After the mass shooting, Trump said that video games might be a possible contributing factor in firearms violence.
In a January 16, 2018 paper in Science Daily, researchers found no evidence to support Trump's belief that video games make players more violent.
The series of experiments had over 3,000 participants and demonstrated that video game concepts "do not 'prime' players to behave in certain ways and that increasing the realism of violent video games does not necessarily increase aggression in game players."
The dominant model of learning in games is that by exposing players to concepts, such as violence in games, makes those concepts easier to use in 'real life.' This is known as priming.
The left-leaning CBS News released a study by The Radiological Society of North America that showed playing violent video games might actually produce temporary neural changes that help control emotions, rather than cause violence though priming.
Brain scans in 11 young men who shot at video game characters for about 10 hours in a week's time had decreased activity in areas of the brain associated with inhibition, attention, and decision-making.
After the Florida shooting, Trump said that he's "hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people's thoughts," and rather than exploring the data and making an informed decision, he believes that speaking to interest groups will help decide what he hopes to do.
Let me be the first to say here, I do not play violent video games nor would I want my family to play them. I think they're horrible, but I also believe in the First Amendment, and there is no conclusive proof that they cause people to act violently.
Oh, and another point, most mass shooters are over 21. The real problem with the last tragedy wasn't the gun nor the shooter's age; it was clearly law enforcement's failure to do its job.
Freaking period!
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