In 1997 Evan Ramsay (then 16 years old) took a twelve-gauge shotgun to school and went on a shooting spree, killing a fellow classmate and the school principal. He is now serving a 210 year jail sentence. In a recent interview with ABC News he admits the following:
"I honestly believed that if you shoot somebody, that they would get back up."
It's hard to accept, he admits, but Ramsey said his naivete left him unable to grasp that firing a gun in the real world is different from firing one in a video game: "I didn't realize that you shoot somebody, they die."
I'm sorry, but at 16 I knew already that if someone shoots you with a gun, depending on where you're shot, you could die. I watched plenty of movies, and paid attention in school to figure this out. Really, it's not to figure out, especially when you're already 16 years old and in high school! I also love the fact that this is, of course, blamed by video games. Video game violence is the new scapegoat, so rock music can have a break.
What I want to know is how his parents, or the school system, failed to help educate him about the difference between fantasy (video games, movies, etc) and reality. And that, yes, guns can kill you. I really have a hard time believing that someone at that age can be so naive. But if I'm wrong... yet another reason for me to fear for the future of humanity.
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