Compact disks don't make good murder weapons

In the news, a California case against video games has reached the Supreme Court. Essentially, it's just about the done-to-death issue of selling video games to minors.

Now, I really have no idea why this case exists in the first place, but to me it seems rather silly for a host of reasons.

First of all, I'd like to make this point:

Video games don't
Actually kill people-
If you didn't know

Really. Try to kill someone with a video game- it won't do you much good. Try to kill someone with a gun though and you'll probably be successful. So here's my first question. Why on Earth are many of these (Republican) politicians trying to ban video game sales to minors while trying to get every person and their mother their own handgun? Now, this charge is being lead by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, though in favor of gun control, might not be in the best position to talk, considering the nature of many of his movies (*cough* Terminator *cough*).

Video games are not the direct cause of killing no matter how many studies try to pin it as such. And I'm sure that there are plenty of studies saying that guns do kill people. Also, if the case goes the wrong way, I don't understand why someone can join the army and kill real people once they're 17, but not kill imaginary people in a video game until they're 18. In addition, if you can't buy violent games until you're 18, and can buy guns once you're 18 (as it is now), seems like you would be more inclined to try the two out together.

At the same time, kids who are playing video games have a tendency to... well, play video games excessively. We all know that. So, while other teens are going out drinking beer, experimenting with drugs, getting DUIs, and dying in drunk driving accidents- the video game teens are a little preoccupied with playing video games.

All of the attacking lawyers (none of whom have ever played a video game, most likely) cite studies saying that violence in video games leads to violence in real life. In response to that- I'm sure there would be plenty of studies saying that playing video games helps relieve stress (it sure does for me) if there were people who really cared about the other side- but chances are the studies are funded by these rich BMW-driving lawyers, so there is much opposition.

The studies that also find this probably don't take into account something to be observed in every study- confounding factors. For instance, while they may come to the conclusion that violent video games lead to deviance, they may not fully think out the scenario. In my opinion, anyone playing Grand Theft Auto isn't just going to go out and shoot someone. In order to be so deranged, they probably need to be deranged in the first place. It could be childhood abuse, poor parenting, or just a chemical imbalance. But in all honesty, for every kid who just happens to kill someone and play a violent video game, there are millions who don't hurt a fly. Why? Because they're too busy hurting people in video games to care about real life.