Data helps rebut the “violent video games cause shootings” argument

As the world continues to react to the horrific school shooting in Connecticut, many people are grasping for potential social explanations for mass shootings. As usual, violent video games are being offered as a scapegoat in some corners, with everyone from Fox News pundits and bottom-feeding attorney Jack Thompson to the NRA and Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod suggesting that the popularity of virtual violence may lead to more real-world violence in some way. Unfortunately for these talking heads, the data just doesn't seem to support their assertion. Max Fisher at The Washington Post helpfully compiled a graph mapping the per-capita spending on video games in the top ten national markets on one axis and the per-capita gun-related murders in those countries on the other. Far from showing a strong link between the two statistics, the graph actually shows a small negative correlation—as video game spending goes up, gun-related murders tend to go down.