How did the Columbine Shooting affect gaming for you?

scipioafricanus this will be my last comment on the gun discussion because I feel like we're just repeating ourselves. Guns are not tools like hands, feet and fire extinguishers. They are tools lf destruction and killing. As stratogustav has pointed out statistics are all bullshit as we can both find statistics that supports our side. Conclusion: people with guns kill more people than people with guns save.

This explains a lot.

scipioafricanus - I don't completely disagree with your point (as I do think the cultural/social problems are more decisive factors in criminal activity than the guns themselves), but we certainly have very different views on guns, as I think they tend to exacerbate problems/escalate violence even if they aren't the initial cause for the violence itself. I even think the police should have a more restricted access to firearms and instead opt for less-lethal weapons, as you see in places like the UK. It's just my very personal view on the issue, anyway.

Another thing about videogames at the time: luckily, my father also liked a lot to play video games and he didn't have much restrictions on the content (he himself played a lot of Resident Evil, Alien Trilogy and a few others that were considered violent at the time). I was playing Duke Nukem when I was 12. So Columbine didn't have any effect in my house - though, to be fair, in 1999 I was more into RPG/fantasy genres anyway. But, as I said, there was some slightly added pressure from adults that didn't play any games and were suspicious of gamers.

What really had more of a personal impact was around two years later, when some brazilian teenagers murdered a friend and their lawyers cynically blamed the murder on the influence of their tabletop rpg games. RPG groups were seen as satanic cults for a while, it was the worst.

Four out of five dentists agree, the fifth guy got his degree online.

I wonder what those American GI's are caring to save people, game controllers?

Just to be clear, I was talking about guns for civilians (and I think everyone else, since we were discussing Columbine - and those kids were no military personnel). I really wish we had no need for armies, though, but I do understand they and their guns are sometimes a sad necessity as wars still exist.

Iceland has pretty much given up their military and they work just fine. Wish we could do the same since we're prettymuch just using it to bonb the Middle East.