Governor Of Kentucky Blames Violent Video Games, Not Guns, For Shooting

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is calling for the United States to think about restrictions on violent video games and movies in light of Wednesday’s horrific school shooting in Florida, which took the lives of at least 17 people.

"We need to have an honest conversation as to what should and should not be allowed in the United States as it relates to the things being put in the hands of our young people," Bevin said on Thursday, one day after the shooting, according to USA Today.

By “things,” he doesn't mean guns. Instead, he was referring to violent entertainment.

"I'm a big believer in the First Amendment and right to free speech, but there are certain things that are so graphic as it relates to violence, and things that are so pornographic on a whole another front that we allow to pass under the guise of free speech, which arguably are," Bevin said. "But there is zero redemptive value. There is zero upside to any of this being in the public domain, let alone in the minds and hands and homes of our young people."

In the past, Bevin has been against gun control.

"You can't regulate evil," he tweeted after the shootings in Las Vegas in October. A total of 59 people died in that shooting, including the shooter.

He has also blamed video games earlier this year when there was as school shooting in Kentucky.

Bevin said that when he visited New England, guns didn’t seem to be an issue.

"Sometimes they'd be in kids' lockers," Bevin said. "Nobody even thought about shooting other people with them. So it's not a gun problem."

It isn’t the first time that the finger of blame has been pointed towards violent video games in the wake of mass shootings. People have taken to Twitter to respond to Bevin’s call to restrict violence in games and movies.

What do you think?

[Photo: NBC News]