Walmart removes “violent” imagery. Continues selling guns
Following two shootings in its stores on July 30th and August 3rd, the first killing two employees, the second where a 21-year-old man killed 22 people and wounded 24 others at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, American gun supermarket Walmart has taken swift and decisive action. By sending a memo.
The memo, from America’s biggest seller of guns, instructs employees to immediately remove or turn off “any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior,” including demos of “violent games, specifically PlayStation or Xbox units” from their gun shops. VGC reports:
The notice instructs employees to immediately remove or turn off “any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior,” including demos of “violent games, specifically PlayStation or Xbox units.”
Now blaming video games for gun violence is a bit like blaming Homer Simpson for alcoholism, Kim Kardashian for global stupidity, Greenpeace for climate change or PewDiePie for knife crime. (Although in fairness Pew’s face does make me want to stab him up.) Of course, almost twice as many people in the US die from self-inflicted gun wounds (suicide) than homicide, but you don’t see Walmart banning Pot Noodles, do you? (Oh.)
In the UK, where guns are not freely available there were no mass shootings in 2018. In the US there were 323. And in the UK we love violent games marketing as much as sun burn, constant apologising and not returning terrible food.
In short. Fucking grow up, America.
@causalgamer
