In describing the industry, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.”
Mr. LaPierre faulted the news media for failing to report on “vicious, violent video games” such as “Grand Theft Auto,” “Mortal Kombat,” and “Splatterhouse” as egregious examples. He also singled out “Kindergarten Killer,” a free, fairly obscure online game.
“How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?” he asked reporters.
More bullshit from the lie factory that is the NRA.
The gun industry lobbyist’s research department apparently didn’t turn up the violent games that gun enthusiasts’ play. Here’s a small sample:
Our Zombie targets are life-sized; three-dimensional tactical mannequins that “bleed” when you shoot them, using Zombie Industries’ Patent Pending proprietary technology.
One of the female “zombies” is named “The Ex”.
Shoot Extreme® shoot house ranges wrap heart-pounding shooting experiences and reality-based training into an adventure destination for the whole family. Our Zombie Hunts, and forthcoming other events like leagues and competitions build firearms competence in a safe, fun, and social setting. That makes us different from old-fashioned shooting ranges, where the only thing you’re allowed to do is stand still and punch holes in stationary paper targets under well-lit conditions. Frankly, that’s not realistic training for much of anything.
We provide the gear. You provide the attitude.™
Shoot Extreme provides the pistols, shotguns,and rifles you’ll shoot at our range. They’re real weapons converted to fire Simunition®, which is the non-lethal, ballistically realistic, training ammunition that the military and police use for their own realistic, close-quarters-battle (CQB) training. All you do is show up with your mad skills, your enthusiasm, and shoot.
Push yourself to your limits with Gun For Hire’s Simunition survival day. The Simunition survival day is 8 hours of non-stop force-on-force training using the Simunition FX marking cartridge. The students will be put into several scenarios that will push themselves to their limits. The scenarios will range from active shooter scenarios to street robberies to car jackings. As a bonus, each student can think of one real world scenario they would like to put themselves in and push themselves to the ultimate breaking point. This class is not for the novice or beginner. All students must be graduates of the Gun For Hire Level 1 Simunition course to attend this class. This class will be conducted at a 42,000 square foot heated office building making the scenario possibilities endless.
Combat Shooting Sports, a Florida gun range, has taken the concept of target practice to a whole new level. Customers can actually engage in simulated combat against other people, shooting real guns at each other.
However, as local affiliate WKMG explains, the customers aren’t using live ammunition. Owner Dave Kaplan gives visitors a choice: He can modify your own gun to fire Simunition rounds. Simunition rounds are filled with compounds similar to those found in paintball rounds. They’ve been used by military and law enforcement organizations in training exercises.
“General dynamics created Simunition decades ago for the military and later law enforcement,” Kaplan said in an email to Yahoo! News. “They recently created a civilian range program and we are probably the only facility doing person on person fighting. We are taking firearm training to a level previously held by professionals.”
“People are using real firearms modified to preclude the firing of a live/lethal round.”
A trip to Combat Shooting Sports costs about $150, which includes the cost of the gun modification.
After receiving their modified guns and donning protective gear, customers are broken up into teams and take part in various games ranging from capture the flag to hostage simulations.
All of the action takes place inside a former grocery store that has been modified into an indoor combat setting.
The Pink Mist Tech “Blood Pack” is a revolutionary new product that instantly turns ANY paper target into a reactive BLEEDING target. Easily identify a good hit with realistic splattering of blood. Perfect for Law Enforcement, Military, as well as enthusiasts who are partial to Zombie and Animal targets. Depending on shot placement, you will get 1 – 5 splattering shots per packet. Pink Mist packs are non-toxic, and clean up is a snap!
I’m not too worried about the fight between the gun industry and the video game industry. They’re both selling product, a lot of money is at stake, and I figure they’re evenly matched. What I do worry about is the fact that the gun industry hacks are now forcing their way into school issues and mental health policy.
The NRA has about as much business being involved in public school or public mental health issues as do the makers of Grand Theft Auto. The gun industry has absolutely no credibility lecturing anyone else on “violent games”. Take a stroll around the web and look at some of these gun enthusiast sites. Ask yourself if you want these folks driving a debate about the safety of 2nd graders or mental health treatment.
Roger Moore
I blame the video game creators, especially the ones who brought us NRA Gun Club.
Villago Delenda Est
The difference being that the makers of Grand Theft Auto wouldn’t dream of doing so in defense of their product. The NRA has no such scruples.
Your mental health database needs to start with LaPierre and the ethics free scum that makes up the NRA board of directors…very much to include draft dodging shitstain (literally) Ted Nugent.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
Merry Christmas Eve Day…….
MattF
The gun nuts have now surpassed my expectations. We need a new circle of Hell.
Kay
@MattF:
I almost admire the arrogance. “My researchers…”
There are thousands of these “realistic training/equipment” sites. The crack team of NRA researchers missed an entire gun industry sector.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kay:
Oh, they didn’t miss it.
They studiously avoided looking at it.
Because that’s what they’re paid to do.
jp7505a
‘Frankly, that’s not realistic training for much of anything. ‘. TRAINING for what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If these sick puppies want a realistic experience I suggest they head over to Syria. There are all manners of zombies and realistic targets they can shot at (many of them Muslims so that’s a plus). Of course those zombies have the disadvantage of being able to shot back with real bullets,ombs and poison gas.
Maybe God is leaving us to wallow in our own insanity. If he came back today someone would probably shot at him.
max
“After LaPierre finished describing his 10,000 closest personal friends, he went on to attack the videogame industry.”
max
[‘For some reason that is entirely unclear.’]
RSA
George R. R. Martin, now famous for A Game of Thrones, wrote a cautionary science fiction story called “Weekend in a War Zone” in 1977. The advertising copy above would have fit perfectly into his story. I didn’t realize that Martin’s predictions had already come to pass. The only difference, I think, is that in the story live ammunition was used. Hmm…
JCT
@jp7505a: This. It is completely amazing all of the money these nuts spend on “training” – not to mention concealment gear, special clothing, etc. All for what?? Someday getting to shoot at our soldiers when “Obummer” declares martial law? It’s frightening.
.
Pretty frightening, huh Kay? When I moved back West I went on a site dedicated to AZ shooting sports to find a local range. Holy fucking crap – I found a fever swamp of paranoid commando- wannabes armed to the teeth and ranting about the evil govt . Endless breathless descriptions of conspiracies. I’m probably surrounded by these assholes here, all carrying concealed. Oh, and someone should tell LaPierre they all love their violent video games.
rikyrah
tell it, Kay
BrianM
To be a bit of a Devil’s Advocate. If people are going to be allowed to carry concealed, they should be trained to deal with emergencies, at least as well as police are (which is often inadequately).
I do surely doubt that even the non-zombie ones above are at all adequate. They seem to cater to the wish-fulfillment crowd rather than the “I take my responsibilities seriously” crowd. As such, I expect they avoid “Congratulations, you killed an innocent bystander and then were killed yourself” outcomes.
BGinCHI
I do admit to some desire to spend an hour or three at the Donald Trump Zombie Shootin’ Casino.
StringOnAStick
The above is a quote from Mr. Pierre’s first press conference post-Newtown. I’ll allow the reader to draw their own conclusions, and if they range all over the place, from death-crazed racist maniac to potential serial killer of hookers, well, makes sense, doesn’t it?
kay
@JCT:
Villago Delenda Est
@BrianM:
This is a reasonable expectation. Because at the root of it is fantasy, broadcast into our living rooms. Then there’s reality amplified by the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality of the local TV news. My local news is obsessed with criminal activity of all sorts. People’s perceptions of the world outside their home is shaped by this, even though it has little, if anything, to do with the reality of the world outside their homes.
kay
@JCT:
I love the assumption that we should trust your average gun nut in schools as compared to the
violent, deranged gun nut.
How are we sorting these two groups out?
Maybe the mental health experts in the gun lobby can advise on that, too.
Forum Transmitted Disease
As a gun owner and someone who shoots pretty frequently, I’ve never run into any facility like this (this is, I suspect, because I live in California and us Californians don’t really subscribe to this kind of bullshit insane mindset) and my desire to go to one would be less than zero.
These people are indefensible, what they do is indefensible, and by God when the citizens of this nation have had enough and come to take all the guns, I will hand mine over with a smile and tell my fellow gun owners: “You’ve earned this. Be grateful they’re not stringing you up from the nearest streetlight.”
Edited to beg: please do not string me up from the nearest streetlight.
smith
Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t the NRA spent lawyers and money trying to get gun rights restored to individuals declared mentally ill? After the Virginia Tech shooting, the NRA wanted to make sure mentally ill people (like the VT shooter) were still able to get their gun rights restored after having them taken away.
So LaPierre can spare us his garbage about needing a mentally ill database, etc. His organization has fought for years to have mentally ill people be allowed to have access to guns.
JohnK
Probably a projection from the NRA leadership…
Enabling obsessive compulsives to live out their apocalyptic fantasies with gun play is only going to fuel the fantasies. Realistic training will make it more likely that these players will use their weapons when motivated. That’s what training is for.
Bostondreams
What gets me is that some of these games he references are like twenty years old. I would think the Call of Duty:MW or a similiar title would have been a better example. Wonder why he didn’t reference that. Hmm.
Incidentally, I bought Saints Row the Third on the Steam holiday sale. Getting my training for when they make me carry my gun in my classroom.
(Fun game, seriously!)
Villago Delenda Est
@JohnK:
Realistic training would involve being shot back at.
I don’t think these wusses would like that very much.
I can tell you that when the military conducts live fire training, there are a lot of safeguards in place. Not even they go to the ultimate test of realism…having live rounds come back at those being trained.
debbie
Frankly, LaPierre sounds like he’s talking about himself and the NRA.
Someone needs to get the Supreme Court to determine whether the unarmed have any place in this country anymore. There must be room somewhere in the Bill of Rights for me.
schrodinger's cat
What is it about frustrated masculinity of some men that makes them commit violent crimes against the defenseless? The gun violence here and the case of the 23 yr who was brutally raped in a moving bus in Delhi, highlight the same pathology.
barath
I’m reading Chris Hedges’s old book War is a Force that Gives us Meaning and it’s amazing reading what he says about war, the violence that comes with it, and the solidarity it brings — that it’s addictive to all who encounter it (including him as a journalist) and that having a common enemy gives (false) meaning to the empty lives most people lead.
Reading some of those news clips above, it sounds like something similar could be said here.
Jewish Steel
Ugh. Those block quotes are bananas. I feel so much worse about everything.
yopd1
I’m not to sure about this.
The video gaming industry revenues are at least double the gun/ammunition industry and I’d say they are a lot more tech and media savvy then the gun industry.
debbie
I haven’t read this book, but I’ve ready plenty on WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Afghanistan (most recently, Krakauer’s Tillman biography), and what amazed me is that no matter how trained the soldiers, battles are panic and chaos. Makes me wonder what all these clowns with their NRA-protected arsenal would do in a stress situation. Certainly not a one-shot kind of thing.
Mr Stagger Lee
@schrodinger’s cat: Anger at the world, a desire to take everyone with you before you die. If they had a superbomb that would blow up the world, they would do it.
BruinKid
@Villago Delenda Est: Not only that, they bullied the NIH and CDC to not conduct any scientific studies about gun violence, lest the NRA get their lackeys in Congress to defund them completely.
barath
@debbie:
That’s exactly what Hedges describes as well. Here’s a quote from a passage I just read:
And another quote:
And these are situations in which the supposed enemy is known…
James K Polk, Esq
New mass shooting in New York.
4 firefighters shot, 2 fatally.
The building is currently burning to the ground as the firefighters can’t be safe enough to fight the fire.
WTF.
Pinkamena Panic
Today’s Penny Arcade is relevant. It will be relevant until we no longer need to have this discussion. Which will probably be never.
Robin G.
Can someone explain to me why, if violent video games are the problem, we don’t have an epidemic of people being hacked up with katanas and broadswords? I believe WoW and other fantasy/medieval setting games are more popular overall than FPS.
Joel
@Forum Transmitted Disease: I’m sure the resident Robespierre will take your plea into consideration. (I jest, of course)
J. Michael Neal
LARPers always worry me a little bit.
AxelFoley
Have we reached peak gun nut?
JohnK
The sun is out, going to do some realistic training on my semi automatic bike. There will be live hills and moving black tail deer and real wild turkeys. Maybe an eagle or two on a scavenger mission.
debbie
@ barath:
Thanks for the quotes. I for one have never understood how anyone can overcome the reflex to run away from bullets.
BGinCHI
@AxelFoley: Not til Red Dawn 3: The Shootening comes out.
Bubblegum Tate
Back when I worked for the FBI as an office monkey, I once went with the agents to the shooting range as they were going to get re-certified en masse (agents have to get re-certified to carry firearms at least once a year…it might have been twice a year, actually). Anyway, after everybody did their shooting (I passed the PQC and the MP5 course…could not possibly have sucked worse with the AR-15), they did an exercise with the Simunition mentioned in the OP. (This would’ve been 1996, to give you a sense of how long Simunition’s been around.) It was a simple suspect apprehension, and different groups of agents tried to capture and cuff a suspect (played by another agent).
The agent playing the suspect was given different directions for each play-through: Try to run, try to hide, surrender, etc. But one time, the suspect was told to immediately open fire. So he did, and a Simunition shootout took place. All agents involved afterward said it was scary stuff (these were narcotics SWAT agents, by the way) and that while they didn’t think it would be any fun to essentially play Paintball with it, they were sure that’s exactly what was going to happen because people who like guns always want to use them.
Those agents were smart. I hope none of them ended up getting shot by some wingnut gun freak.
WereBear
There isn’t a font size in the world big enough to say how SICK this is.
MikeJ
@BrianM: Well, first I was gonna pop this guy hanging from the street light, and I realized, y’know, he’s just working out. I mean, how would I feel if somebody come runnin’ in the gym and bust me in my ass while I’m on the treadmill? Then I saw this snarling beast guy, and I noticed he had a tissue in his hand, and I’m realizing, y’know, he’s not snarling, he’s sneezing. Y’know, ain’t no real threat there. Then I saw little Tiffany. I’m thinking, y’know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed. She’s about eight years old, those books are WAY too advanced for her. If you ask me, I’d say she’s up to something. And to be honest, I’d appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it.
pseudonymous in nc
@JCT:
Tactical paraphilia. It’s the same as spending money on elaborate fetish gear, except that any pain inflicted there is consensual.
And I’ll note again that Grand Theft Auto’s creators are based in Edinburgh, a city that is not particularly noted for its running gun battles.
Amir Khalid
@James K Polk, Esq:
We just had two posts about this from mistermix.
Robin G.
@MikeJ: I love you.
ChrisB
Have they found a way to simulate the splattering of brains, too?
Last week I thought it was good for the country to hear the insanity coming from the NRA. I hope I’m right.
ChrisB
Have they found a way to simulate the splattering of brains, too?
Last week I thought it was good for the country to hear the insanity coming from the NRA. I hope I’m right.
Matt McIrvin
I think that shooter games, along with movies and TV, could well be giving some people delusions about what shooting situations are really like, much as porn gives inexperienced people weird ideas about sex. FPSes are designed to be just-challenging-enough, interesting and fun, not to depict combat realistically. Most people understand this, but understanding it intellectually and in your gut might be different things.
Of course, if this delusion isn’t combined with easy access to a gun, it’s not a big problem. And actual experience with guns on shooting ranges won’t help that much either.
cathyx
It took me 4 tries to put the pauses in the right spot when I read the title.
Schlemizel
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
There is a huge “zombie hunt” at a place in S. MN every spring. nearly a thousand shooters show up & many more can’t get reservations. The perform all sorts of shoot games, many at human-like targets. I’m sure the total number of actual crazies is pretty small but it doesn’t take many. A couple of my friends have been going to this for years and claim it has no official “black helicopter” nut jobs.
Years ago a neighbor took me to the Minnesota Practical Shooters event. It was actually a lot of fun as there were things like obstecle courses and shooting with your off hand. But the people there were very sick. THere were a lot of tables set up selling Turner Diaries and the like, giving out pamphlets about the black helicopter crap and holicost denial. I only went once because those clowns drained the fun out of the event
Robin G.
@Matt McIrvin: I think FPSers (and violence in movies) IS causing a problem with desensitization — among post-massacre reactions. I seriously doubt that the people who shoot up schools wouldn’t do so if they’d never played GTA, but I suspect that if gunshots weren’t invisible and only featured a little pool of blood in movies, then the reaction to those shooters would involve fewer people saying it’s not that big a deal. People who are pro-guns, I suspect, have only seen santized wounds on film. If they could actually picture what happened to those 6 year olds (let’s face it, there probably wasn’t much left of them), maybe they’d feel a little more sick.
Or maybe Christmas optimism (faith in fellow man, etc) is getting to me.
MikeBoyScout
Kay, you bring up a (sadly) very good point.
How is it possible the spokesperson for the Merchants of Death is allowed to appear on the teevee and not a single one of our VSP Villagers will refer to him as leading a merchandizing campaign for continual murderous slaughter?
These facts are not terribly had to find, yet our ‘news media’ misses them at every turn.
Bubblegum Tate
@Bostondreams:
“Splatterhouse” really stuck out to me. That came out in, what, 1992?
Schlemizel
@Schlemizel:
BTW – at the “Zombie Hunt” people are not allowed to carry weapons with the magazine in them. I believe they also require some sort of flag so there can’t be a round in the chamber.
You can’t rock-n-roll until you are on the actual firing line. They are supposed to toss violators.
So the people running the show are not insane they know the risks
Schlemizel
http://www.ahlmans.com/OUTBREAK-Main%20page.htm
For the fifth year in a row, DPMS is hosting their annual Zombie Hunt in Southern Minnesota on June 23rd. With more than $100,000 in product, gear and coupon giveaways and prizes, there’s bound to be plenty of smiling faces come days end.
JCT
@Forum Transmitted Disease: As a fellow target shooter I agree wholeheartedly. An interesting fact, at Pima County (Tucson) shooting ranges no targets with “identifiable” human features are allowed. It surprised the hell out of me the first time I saw a Range Officer make some guy take down his targets.
@pseudonymous in nc: Sure, it’s like elaborate dress-up and role-play. No problem except for the fucking guns. Not to mention the “requirement” that said concealed fetish items have a chambered round “ready to go”. It is really amazing to me as it is like these guys never grew up. But heaven forfend they actually join the military and really put themselves in harm’s way. Instead they put the rest of us in harm’s way by carrying around loaded, powerful firearms. And in AZ they can do this without any sort of permit or training. ARGH,
Guy
@Schlemizel:
Was that a sanctioned match or a private club event? I do USPSA matches from time to time and have never seen anything like that. Locally, trying to discuss anything political is regarded a bit like farting on an elevator.
arguingwithsignposts
This is OT, but I know Kay follows the health care issue pretty closely. The DC Circuit court of appeals said some christianist nuts could move forward with their case against Obamacare (CBN link – warning):
jim parente
I can provide better home defense by using a can of hornet spray. These wanna be commandos are really pathetic.
lucslawyer
If anyone is interested, I have started a petition to make Piers Morgan an honorary U.S. citizen in response to the one wanting to deport him…
300baud
Youth violence is at 40-year lows. The playing of violent video games is at an all-time peak. If video games caused violence, we’d know. But there’s no solid evidence for the theory:
http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/
whidby
@Guy: Yeah, I’ve never seen nutty literature at USPSA or IDPA events.
I have seen it various gun shows I’ve attended. And it’s also noteworthy that the “WWII memorabilia” table tend to lean towards Nazi doodads instead of Allies.
Ive seen the zombie splatter targets, they don’t seem really any different to me than the birchwood and casey origina versions, but I guess some people get wigged out by targets that have “people” as opposed to circles on them.
And I don’t see anything inherently wrong about practicing with simunitions. It’s just more realistic paintball. Heck, I think people that play lots of shooter video games should do FoF simunitions courses. First, it would get their fat asses up off the sofa and second, they would learn that shooting people in the real world is a lot harder than in a video game when they’re shooting back.
Matt
Great piece from 2004 on the Daily Show related to this:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-september-28-2004/last-resort
“I wanna kill a hobo.”
Schlemizel
@Guy:
I assume it is a private event in that it is not sponsored by any one organization. I thought at one time it was the project of the range where it was held
CommishTheFirst
This is a great post to share. I’ve promised myself to avoid politics with my friends and family for the next few days but have bookmarked it to share on the 27th.
Bill Arnold
@Mr Stagger Lee:
This is the scariest aspect of the possibility of widespread accessibility to WMDs (e.g. bioweapons might soon be there.)
Sci-Fi has done treatments of this problem like forever; the first I recall was a story by John Varley in the 70s about a nuclear suicide terrorist. Charles Stross had a similar colorful substory at the beginning of Iron Sunrise about defusing a nutcase with a nuclear bomb with deadman switch.
If you allow revenge/suicide, the movie “The Peacemaker” was not grossly inaccurate either. (At least the NY scenes were OK. Bomb was maybe too small physically. Some of the overseas action scenes were typical Hollywood though.)