|
In Reply to: Re: guns and violence in america posted by Acheick on April 25, 2003 at 07:40:18:
Yes, Hollywood is definitely part of the problem.
"TV Violence Increases Homicides
"Recently, the media, including medical journalists in organized medicine (i.e., American Medical Association and affiliates) have focused their attention on the associations of violence in television, music, video games and movies to violent behavior in children and adolescents. To this end, a consensus statement of experts released July 26 and sponsored by the AMA and other medical groups proclaimed, 'At this time, well over 1,000 studies - including reports from the surgeon general's office, the National Institute of Mental Health and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations - point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children.'
Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D., Aug. 17, 2000
There have been a many studies on the relationship between violence on the screens and violence in children, debates about whether fiction immitates life or life immitates fiction, and endless political debates about crime and punishment. These topics are always controversial, but what the studies seem to indicate over and over is that the availability of firearms is definitely linked to high homicide rates. Many (not all) studies, show a clear relationship between violence on television and acts of violence in viewers, especially children. Not surprisingly though, there is usually hardly an increase in homicides, unless firearms are readily available. In countries where guns are readily available and there is minimal exposure to Hollywood, it can go either way - homicide rates can be high or low - but generally it is always higher once guns are available.
People are often killed by people they know, in their very own homes, by relatives who have guns in their homes. Tempers will fly, arguments will happen, but in a moment of passion and hate, a gun is an efficient tool for murder. It is a tool associated with killing. It is not something I'd keep in my kitchen drawer. It is more efficient as a killing tool than a knife or a sledgehammer. That's my take on it. Gun lobbyists will want to shoot me for that.
