Personal Responsibility and Injuries

Sometimes, people are hurt, injured or killed and it is no one's fault. I know, some of you are stunned to hear that from a personal injury attorney. But, as I have said before, I call it like I see it.

In New Mexico, the family of a deceased man is suing the shooter and the makers of a video game. The theory appears to be that the game trained the kid how to use a gun and make the kid a proficient shooter.

As someone who has played video games from the 1970s, that is complete garbage. I still couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from 20 feet with a shotgun. The game didn't make the kid kill anyone, the kid just did it. Maybe he was sick, maybe he needed help, maybe he was just not a good guy. But, the game didn't make him do it.

Of course, that is just one man's opinion. What do you think?

Comments

[Ron Miller]

I think that it is impossible to prove causation for an individual plaintiff which is why this suit will fail. I was the attorney for some of the Columbine victims who also made this argument at one point (before I got involved). But do some games increase violence levels? There is some good data on it that Hillary Clinton often offers that is difficult to run from. You say "the kid just did it." On some level, on the deepest level of personal responsibility, this is true. But when you step beyond this truth for the factors that contribute to violence (understanding that it is complex equation with scores and scores of variables), could violent games be a part of that equation. Absolutely. Can you prove it in a specific case? No.

Ron Miller
www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com