German Police Chairman Calls for Violent Game Ban
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:20 am
German Police Chairman Calls for Violent Game Ban
By Rob Crossley
A regional chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG) has apparently called for all violent videogames to be banned from the country.
Heini Schmitt, regional chairman of the DPolG in the German state of Hesse, links videogames to the recent Albertville school shooting in the town of Winnenden, where a 17-year old former pupil went on a rampage killing 15 people before turning the gun on himself.
The attack had thrown the German people into a state of shock, but as the nation recovers from the incident there are voices emerging, some that call for reform and preventative measures to help ensure the Albertville shooting is not repeated.
In an Echo Online report (translated by GamePolitics) Schmitt cites his concern with the apparent fact that a third of German youths “regularly and addictively escape into a virtual world”.
Schmitt – whose jurisdiction of Hesse sits outside of Winnenden – refers to games with violent content as “killergames”. He is careful to state that there’s no proof linking videogames with mature content to a high-school killing spree, “but neither can the role of killergames be completely dismissed.”
“The world would be no poorer if there were no more killergames,” he added.
The shooting has already sparked debate and argument within the German game sector. Retail chain Galeria Kaufhof has confirmed that in April it will begin to pull adult videogames and films from its shelves, while the German videogame developers association (G.A.M.E.) has criticised the move as an overreaction bordering on “impulsive hysteria."
Reports linking the school shooting to videogames have cited a number of titles, from CounterStrike to Far Cry 2. Described as a shy loner who had access to a collection of legal firearms, the 17-year-old school shooter had – according to reports – seemed to target women in his attack, one of which was a young woman who had reportedly declined his advances at a previous house party.
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What do you know
The dumb ass found out he's not all that and went nuts.
Well
Let us not for get what 1 voice can do to take away personal freedoms.
and
Germany can produce the best of them.
I hope they can get the load mouth under controll.
CoFree
By Rob Crossley
A regional chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG) has apparently called for all violent videogames to be banned from the country.
Heini Schmitt, regional chairman of the DPolG in the German state of Hesse, links videogames to the recent Albertville school shooting in the town of Winnenden, where a 17-year old former pupil went on a rampage killing 15 people before turning the gun on himself.
The attack had thrown the German people into a state of shock, but as the nation recovers from the incident there are voices emerging, some that call for reform and preventative measures to help ensure the Albertville shooting is not repeated.
In an Echo Online report (translated by GamePolitics) Schmitt cites his concern with the apparent fact that a third of German youths “regularly and addictively escape into a virtual world”.
Schmitt – whose jurisdiction of Hesse sits outside of Winnenden – refers to games with violent content as “killergames”. He is careful to state that there’s no proof linking videogames with mature content to a high-school killing spree, “but neither can the role of killergames be completely dismissed.”
“The world would be no poorer if there were no more killergames,” he added.
The shooting has already sparked debate and argument within the German game sector. Retail chain Galeria Kaufhof has confirmed that in April it will begin to pull adult videogames and films from its shelves, while the German videogame developers association (G.A.M.E.) has criticised the move as an overreaction bordering on “impulsive hysteria."
Reports linking the school shooting to videogames have cited a number of titles, from CounterStrike to Far Cry 2. Described as a shy loner who had access to a collection of legal firearms, the 17-year-old school shooter had – according to reports – seemed to target women in his attack, one of which was a young woman who had reportedly declined his advances at a previous house party.
=========================================================================================================
=========================================================================================================
according to reports – seemed to target women in his attack, one of which was a young woman who had reportedly declined his advances at a previous house party.
What do you know
The dumb ass found out he's not all that and went nuts.
Well
Let us not for get what 1 voice can do to take away personal freedoms.
and
Germany can produce the best of them.
I hope they can get the load mouth under controll.
CoFree