“No-one wants censorship or an interfering state.”
Groups like Mediawatch UK and politicians like Kieth Vaz, who
constantly blame video games for knife/gun violence certainly want
censorship and an interfering state if it means games which feature
guns and knives are banned.
From the BBC:
PM promises clampdown on knives
A selection of knives taken from youths in London by the police
Police in the UK’s worst knife crime hotspots will be told to
prosecute anyone caught with a blade, Prime Minister Gordon Brown
has said.
Mr Brown told The Sun that carrying knives or guns was “completely
unacceptable” and that officers should stop giving offenders
cautions.
The Home Office said the crackdown would apply to London,
Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
His intervention follows a string of high-profile fatal stabbings.
The issue has been highlighted by the recent deaths of teenagers
Faridon Alizada, 18, from Bexley, south-east London, Nassirudeen
Osawe in Islington, north London, and Jack Large in Grange Hill,
Essex.
Lethal weapons
Mr Brown told the newspaper: “We have to send out a message and
reinforce it with action.
“It is completely unacceptable to carry a knife or a gun. Where
police have previously been cautioning people, there now has to be a
presumption of prosecution.”
A Violent Crime Action Plan would be unveiled in February by Home
Secretary Jacqui Smith, Mr Brown said.
Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police’s chief constable, has
already ordered his officers to prosecute all offenders caught with
knives, rather than issuing cautions.
However, Camilla Batmanghelidjh, founder of the charity Kids
Company, warned that the proposals would not address the underlying
causes of knife crime – gang culture and the drug trade.
She added: “I think it’s a good idea, but it won’t solve the
problem.
“The question we need to ask is: why are children carrying knives?”
Mr Brown added that he wanted to use teenagers as “test purchasers”
to snare retailers illegally selling blades, and that he was
considering outlawing the most lethal weapons.
He also said he was concerned about violent computer games featuring
knives.
“No-one wants censorship or an interfering state,” he said.
“But the industry has some responsibility to society and needs to
exercise that.”
“But the industry has some responsibility to society and needs to
exercise that.”
Pah! What responsibility has this government taken for knife crime?
None. It has prefered to sit back and blame scapegoats like films,
video games and TV programmes.
Video games are entertainment not wet nurses!
