As we watch the results that will shape up the 2020 presidential race from the Democrat perspective it’s a good time to talk about gun control and the latest Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare. I recently bought the game which came out last November, which I didn’t have time for then due to other projects and a much-needed long vacation. But over the winter months and with one of my grandsons showing an interest in the game I went ahead and bought it so I could learn what all the fuss was about. I’m not new to Call of Duty, in fact my particular PlayStation 4 was a Call of Duty: Black Ops bundle so I’m familiar with the franchise and the game play. But WOW, what a cool game and for anybody who is worried about gun control fanatics taking over and outlawing guns, I think quite the opposite will be happening. For a society that is penalizing children for every time a kid pretends to make a gun with their finger, or with a comb and gets detention during recess, these games are the exact opposite. Kids after playing games like Modern Warfare and Fortnite are much more likely to grow up to be supportive of guns, not less so. After playing Modern Warfare online for a few weekends now I have to say, it’s a lot of fun, and no wonder so many people enjoy those games. But there will be a political impact that must be navigated.

I love violent video games, just as I was as a kid, I would play war with anybody with two legs and was willing. The primordial nature of it is essential to the human experience. But make no mistake about it, I have no doubt that video games can inspire violent behavior, especially among the mentally ill or perpetually hopeless. I can easily see young people, or old people wanting to mimic the killing sprees on a game like Modern Warfare in real life because the experiences in the game are so lifelike. Yet, I am not one who thinks that there should be additional regulations on the video game industry, quite the opposite. I want to be able to play games like Modern Warfare and play shoot people at all hours of the night and day in any amounts that I desire, and I want video game companies to be freer to provide even more content. However, saying that, there is a greater need today for an adult population to coach young people on real firearm handling and to develop the healthy respect that is needed when using them to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

The promotion of guns in Modern Warfare even down to modifying each weapon with a gunsmith is intense and is a great way for people to learn more about guns. I would say that for an entry point into the shooting sports, a game like Modern Warfare has tremendous potential to expand gun rights as people are more familiar with guns than ever before. When I was young, we had BB gun wars where we’d try to shoot at each other. We also would throw dirt clots out of the garden because they exploded in a cloud of dust upon impact. At every break in school we had battles with each other on the playground and up and down the hallways. Its something humans need to do with one another like kittens play fighting with each other harmlessly, but to build up the muscle memory of action when needed for some future time when it might matter to defend their families from harm. But it was never so easy than to just turn on a video game console and go into a battle like that with players all around the world on a whim and engage in such an activity without any fear at all of being hurt. This is brand new territory relatively speaking, and it is building in our society whether or not the political forces of government like it or not, a real love for firearms that goes far beyond anything that I experienced as a young person.

I would go as far to say that I found my experiences online with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare heavenlike, it is some of the best fun I can say I’ve experienced in a long time and I can’t believe I’m so late to the party. Call of Duty has been around for a while, but I have been way too busy to play in that world because I thought of it as only being for young people. But it was through my grandson that I have been learning about Fortnite and now Call of Duty in a serious way and I get the fun. I would say I’m a bit more savvy about these kinds of video game things than other people my age, but even for me, its like a whole world that has been out there that I didn’t have any knowledge of. And those people are all potential voters and they will be interested in learning to shoot for real because of their video game experiences, and it is up to those of us who support Second Amendment activities to help guide them through the experience, safely. Yet there is no question about it, these modern video game players love guns and playing around with them, it won’t take much to gain their support for a society that relishes the Second Amendment.

With all the concern that American society might slide into a socialist state, or even embrace communism by those same young people, my thoughts on the matter is that they are confused. Their educations have taught them to embrace socialism and from their point of view, if they have free health care, free college tuition, free housing—free, free, free from government, they would have more time to do something they really enjoy, like play Call of Duty. But in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, or even Fortnite, the rewards for a job well done come fast and often and are the real incentive to continue playing. I found it personally very rewarding to go on a kill streak where gold rewards pop up on the screen with great dramatic effect. To get those rewards it really encourages you to keep playing and is deeply satisfying and a people responding to those neurological conditions are not going to embrace Karl Marx. Those two things just don’t go together. However, some deranged lunatic smoking way too much pot, or any at all, might want to get those same responses in real life while shooting real people, and once they have done so as a mass shooter are depressed that the thrill wasn’t nearly so rewarding and the consequences were life ending. There is a lot going on in our modern society and much of that is quite evident in the new Call of Duty game Modern Warfare. I’m a big fan now and will likely spend some time and effort on that fast-moving video game, because it’s cool, and relatively cheap when compared to shooting in real life. And for anybody who even likes guns a little bit, I can’t think of a better way to spend your free time than in playing those types of games.

Rich Hoffman