[Leaning Right]

Are they being programmed by movies, video games?

Yes they are. It is not done deliberately, but still it happens. Typical video game: Shoot people to get points. Shoot more people, get more points.

Now add to that the violent rap music that many young people listen to.

Now add to that the "I'm being persecuted" mentality so common today.

It's not guns. There were roughly as many guns in the population back in the 1950's. This never happened back in the 1950's.

Something has to be done to address this problem. It will take some hard thinking by our leaders. But I'm guessing they'll take the easy way out: blame guns.

[PghBaldy]

Mass shootings have gone on for decades.

[Strategerist]

Actually the rise of video games and rap music coincides with a pretty drastic drop in violent crime rates overall from 1990 through today.

[justice14]

I disagree with some of you points, but I would like to add to them ‘the internet’. So many psycopaths get validated on the internet by faceless people either joking around with them or living through their threats. The internet has created a very hostile and provoking group of insane people.

[frogjerk]

It will take some hard thinking by our leaders.

Our "Leaders" don't think anymore, they just react.

[gdani]

Yes they are. It is not done deliberately, but still it happens. Typical video game: Shoot people to get points. Shoot more people, get more points.

Now add to that the violent rap music that many young people listen to.

Oh, yeah. That's definitely it! (/sarc)

[Ultra Sonic 007]

It's not guns. There were roughly as many guns in the population back in the 1950's. This never happened back in the 1950's.

I wouldn't be so quick to say so. Charles Starkweather, Howard Unruh, Carill Fugate, Melvin Collins...and that's just a brief list. True, there weren't as many, but it's not like they didn't exist.

With everything interconnected today by the media, we become aware of anything and (almost) everything in a matter of minutes. Very few things are 'local' anymore, which is why there seems to be a growing epidemic of violent crimes, even though - statistically - all violent crime (murder included) have been on downward trends since the early 90s.

You could make the argument that video games are 'programming' people, true. You could also make the argument that video games serve as a form of catharsis to release aggression.

But I suppose we won't know the true results of what today's popular culture will bring until today's children become older...so, probably not until the 2020s and the 2030s will the consequences be felt.

If something more worrisome (like America defaulting) hasn't occurred by then, that is. But alas.