Boy Shoots Grandmother

When I was an 8-year-old child, (a time I can now, depressingly classify as well over a decade ago), I remember that my father owned an air pistol. It was a purely air-powered gun, capable of firing one small pellet at a time, which could put a small hole in plant pot and merely dent anything made of even the thinnest metal. Regardless of this, I was overwhelmingly curious about it and wanted nothing more than to try it out. However it was kept in a place I couldn’t reach and was repeatedly told that I wasn’t allowed anywhere near it.

This I can only assume is because I was an 8-year-old child, who in all likelihood would have shot himself in the face by accident and, if not blowing his brain out, at least maiming himself with it in some way.

I only bring this up in light of a news story that’s come out of Louisiana of an 8-year-old shooting his grandmother after playing grand theft auto.

Apparently the game was to blame for the child’s behaviour, as after playing it he shot his grandmother.

So, a big point to take into account before I launch into this; I don’t understand gaming. I don’t get it, I don’t know why it’s such a big part of some peoples’ lives. I get that most games have a storyline running through them, but in terms of the ones I’ve played (those being Halo and indeed GTA) I really don’t see any difference in what you’re required to do differently as a gamer in terms of story progression. In basic terms the story’s being told like film and every once in a while you come in do exactly the same thing you’ve been doing since day one. There’s no real difference in what you do with the controls in Halo and what you do with the controls in any of it’s one-million sequels. Now generally when I voice this opinion around gamers, they look at me like I just told them that I like to kill domestic pets and knit them into a settee. More than once I’ve been told that I don’t know what I’m talking about and that I’m simply opposed to interactive storytelling. These excuses for me not liking something they love have regularly been a source of remarkable frustration for me and have more often than not caused me to concurrently resent the whole gaming industry for the condescending individuals who sometimes crop up in it’s fan base.

With this in mind, I would like all everyone to take into account the seriousness of what I’m about to say.

Grand Theft Auto (whichever one he was playing) had nothing to do with this child shooting his grandmother. Children are inquisitive and impulsive and if not given firm and clear guidance will act aggressively and without clear and proper thought. That’s why I wasn’t allowed to even get near my father’s air pistol and that’s why this kid should have never been allowed anywhere near a gun. This is story is a prime example of negligent parenting. Even if we assume the child had been told he wasn’t allowed to use the gun, why was it even in a place where he could get it to it? He could have been told that it could hurt and kill people, but why would a child this young think through the consequences of firing a gun?

The child is in the care of his parents – why? They have proved themselves unfit for the task of raising him.

But no, you know what’s going to happen now, Rockstar (who make GTA) are going to have to make a statement saying that they are very sorry and aggrieved for the death of the boy’s grandmother and a lot of people are going to start calling for a ban on violent video games again. And all the while, these two incompetents are going to be free to keep leaving firearms about the place for children to play with.

I don't like gaming (and the full reasons for that can fill up another full blog post at some point) but it is not to blame for this tragedy. The fact that this chid has been left back in the care of these people, who left their gun lying around where someone who could not be expected to understand how dangerous it was, is frightening and a travesty.