Paul Helmke says guns, not games, are to blame for school shootings

Some people would point the finger at video games as the cause of the violent school shootings that have taken place in the US in recent years. Gun control advocate Paul Helmke, however, begs to differ. According to him, video games aren’t to blame for school killings – guns are. More on his alternative perspective after the jump.

Exactly one year ago today, former Virginia Tech student Seung-huo Cho shot dozens of fellow students and school staff members before turning his guns on himself. Since then, other  shootings have taken place in various schools around the country.

While some people prefer to pin the blame on violent video games for the killings, gun control advocate Paul Helmke has another target in mind: the relative ease with which people may acquire guns in the US. As Helmke put it:

It tears me apart. It’s become such a common occurrence and I keep asking why we allow this to happen. I’m not sure that psychological factors or violent movies and video games are any different here than in other countries – the difference is how easy it is to get a gun.

Granted, the state had already passed legislation regarding gun control last December. Nevertheless, other incidents have occurred since then, prompting Helmke to speak up. He cited the example of Britain, whose strict gun control laws seemed to have eliminated serious shootings altogether.

On the other hand, pro-gun lobbyists are pushing for having sane, upstanding and law-abiding people carry concealed guns on campus. That way, these same people can gun killers down before history manages to repeat itself yet again.

We only want to know one thing: will the blame game ever end?