Talking About Republican Deflection; Why Does the Government Claim Mass Shootings Are Caused by Video Games?

On Quora, member Lynn Boca asks:

Why does the US government feel video games are to blame for the rash of mass shootings when other countries without the shootings also have video games?

My reply

First of all, it’s not the entire United States government that is making the false connection between video games and mass shootings. It’s just one of the two major political parties that govern the country - and it’s the one which is closely allied with the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers.

Second, I doubt that any of the Republican Party politicians who blame video game use for the shootings in El Paso and Dayton truly believe this false narrative. The pols and spokespersons who say “Video games are to blame for mass shootings” are directing their comments at their base, not at more worldly individuals who know that Japan and other countries (such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany) where video games are not only widely played but created and published don’t have the high levels of gun-related violence that the U.S. has.

In the past, before video games became a thing in the 1980s and 1990s, conservatives blamed TV and comic books for juvenile crimes and gun violence.

In the 1940s, during World War II, conservatives blamed women who were working in national defense industries while their husbands were in the armed forces for raising a generation of “latchkey children” who were often left unsupervised in their homes. (The conservatives needed to explain why there was an upsurge in juvenile delinquency in 1940s America, so they blamed working mothers.)

In short, Republicans seek a mythical chimera to blame for the increased frequency of mass shooting events rather than confront their refusal to renew the 1994 ban on assault weapons, which expired 15 years ago during President George W. Bush’s Administration.