Tech has been blowing smoke over on Flame about the need to do something. About video games. Because, of course, that is the problem, even though there is a ton of evidence to indicate that playing video games, by itself, is not a cause of violence.

The plain fact that we have millions of gun owners who have never hurt anyone also indicates that gun ownership, by itself, is not a cause of violence. The death toll is higher with a gun. That's the difference. For the people who love someone killed, the loss is 100% whether the weapon is a gun, a knife, bare hands or a bomb. Once the cameras stop rolling, they are left alone with their loss.

The trouble is, people always want to ban something, declare victory and go home, because it's easy.

Consider this:

"Parents are demanding that the government do something even if it’s wrong, and once we reach that point, we tend to do all the wrong things. This is doubly dangerous. First, constitutional protections make it unlikely that the government is going to take decisive action against [gun ownership]. So all of the fears get redirected onto the [people who own guns]. We may not have an epidemic of youth violence in this country but lots of adults are ready to lock up teenage boys and throw away the key. Second, every moment our government focuses on the wrong problems, they take away time and resources that could be used to combat the actual causes of youth violence. Banning [guns] doesn’t put a stop to domestic violence, doesn’t ensure that mentally unstable kids get the help they need, doesn’t stop bullying in the hallways, and doesn’t deal with the economic inequalities and racial tensions that are the real source of violence in American culture."

Now, this is the actual quote:

"Parents are demanding that the government do something even if it’s wrong, and once we reach that point, we tend to do all the wrong things. This is doubly dangerous. First, constitutional protections make it unlikely that the government is going to take decisive action against the media industries. So all of the fears get redirected onto the kids who play these games. We may not have an epidemic of youth violence in this country but lots of adults are ready to lock up teenage boys and throw away the key. Second, every moment our government focuses on the wrong problems, they take away time and resources that could be used to combat the actual causes of youth violence. Banning games doesn’t put a stop to domestic violence, doesn’t ensure that mentally unstable kids get the help they need, doesn’t stop bullying in the hallways, and doesn’t deal with the economic inequalities and racial tensions that are the real source of violence in American culture."

--Coming Up Next: Ambushed on Donahue by Henry Jenkins

I can see just as much truth in the altered quote, based on my knowledge of and conversations with people who own guns, as I can in the actual quote, pax Henry Jenkins.

See how this works? To quote James Thurber, yet again, "You might just as well fall on your face as bend over too far backward." To the advocates of Prohibition, welcome to the floor.

Banning things makes part of the population feel better, part of the population feel bullied, and none of the real problems are recognized, let alone dealt with. The real problems are hard; they required constant attention and action because they involve relationships and unique human beings with complex problems. Education and increased literacy, social work, health care including mental health care, destigmatizing mental illness, and a serious effort to address economic inequality will help. None of these can happen by decree.

Some of us even believe that banning stuff is the only way to fix things because the human race's default condition is a mob of scavenging murderers. I suppose if we believe that, banning stuff is the only answer, or the free issue of handguns so we can all go around and shoot each other in the head, which, as a mob of scavenging murderers, we will. Last person to blow his brains out wins.

Extreme positions lead to extreme solutions. Do we want to try to help people for a change?