Democrats quickly attributed this weekend's mass shootings to racism, former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said Monday, but they will not acknowledge the role video games might have in such violence.
"Democrats were — as usual — quick to dismiss any suggestion that video gaming or other cultural factors (except for 'racism' perpetrated by President [Donald] Trump) might be among the factors causing what has become an all-too-familiar pattern of young males using firearms to commit mass murder," Barr said in an op-ed in The Daily Caller.
Barr, who served in the House from 1995 to 2003, is now president and CEO of the Law Enforcement Education Foundation.
"This knee-jerk reaction against consideration of such factors limits the likelihood that government at any level will be able to develop a comprehensive strategy seriously to address the problem of mass shootings, foredooming law enforcement simply to doing their best to respond to such incidents," Barr wrote.
Thirty-one people have died and many were injured in shootings within 24 hours in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
Barr said Democrats would easily face pushback from the "$140 billion global video gaming industry" and cited such popular video games as "Call of Duty" for their possible connection to "mass shootings in real life."
"The industry's opposition is driven by dollars, despite the veneer of First Amendment verbiage," Barr said.
"For Democratic politicians, the deep antagonism to consideration of cultural factors contributing to mass shootings, including the obsession many young male adults have with video games, is driven almost exclusively by partisan politics," he added.
"Focusing exclusively on gun control as the solution to the deep-seated problems rending 21st century American culture," Barr said, "is far easier than tackling the root causes of mental illness, family breakdown, and extreme alienation that infects so many young people in contemporary society."
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