We are outraged that video-game companies and gun manufacturers are entering into deals to market guns to our children, particularly given the real-life epidemic of gun violence in America.
by Sam Stein, Political Reporter at the Huffington Post
Advocates are turning to video-game makers in a new campaign to persuade them to stop doing business with firearms manufacturers.
The campaign, spearheaded by the groups Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Gun Truth Project, will specifically call on the video-game industry to stop entering licensing agreements with gun manufacturers, arguing that it dangerously glorifies firearms.
“We are outraged that video-game companies and gun manufacturers are entering into deals to market guns to our children, particularly given the real-life epidemic of gun violence in America,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
The two groups are planning to release a 10-page study, titled Game Over, which makes the case that by featuring weapons in their games, video-game producers are “blurring the line between fiction and reality in ways that can have tragic consequences.” The realistic depiction of the firearms — companies enter into financial agreements with gun manufacturers to feature specific models — is not necessary to bolster the sales of video games, the group added.
An official with the campaign said that the groups would be targeting the companies Take 2, Valve Corporation and Activision in particular.
