Porn blamed for US school shootings

Tennessee lawmaker saying pornography and
video games ‘root causes’ behind school massacres

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Following this year’s Parkland school massacre, Florida’s House
of Representatives approved a measure “declaring pornography a
public health risk the same day the Republican-controlled chamber
overwhelmingly voted to reject gun control measures demanded by
survivors of the shooting”, reports USA Today.

As well as pornography, Black also blamed the rise in school
shootings over the past twenty years on the “deterioration of the
family,” mental illness and violent movies.

HuffPost, which released a recording of Black’s
meeting, said there is little evidence to suggest any of these
factors are linked to the rise in shootings.

“Poor social, economic and cultural conditions are primary
drivers of gun violence,” it reported, citing experts who claim enacting policies to improve
those conditions for people, along with reducing access to
firearms, would go a long way in stemming mass shootings.

Black’s remarks “were among the latest attempts to explain the
United States’ high numbers of mass shootings” says The Washington Post.

Many conservatives and the National Rifle Association cite
intense news coverage of mass shootings, video games, abortion and
a lack of religion, and inadequate control of entry into schools,
while liberals and other advocates of stricter gun control point to
statistics that suggest the prevalence of guns is the single most
important variable when examining why the US has more mass
shootings than other countries.