Here is an article about a proposed law written by the NRA to shield gun manufacturers from liabiity for the use of their product. While I rarely ever agree with the NRA, I do agree with this idea. I, as paradoxically as this will sound, am a liberal that believes in personal responsibility. If I am killed by a gun tomorrow, then I blame the person that used the gun. Society has laws to punish those that offend. I believe the only reason some want to go after the gun manufacturers is that they have the money. I am afraid to say that this seems to be a case of the lawyers going after the ones with the money.
Now, here comes the place I part company with this line of thought. If you want to shield gun manufacturers from liability, you have to apply the law equally. If I manufacturer tobacco or alcohol, don't I deserve the same protection. What about the manufacturers of the game, Grand Theft Auto. They are being sued in at least one case for a teen killing 4 police officers. Surely if a gun manufacturer is not liable for the use of its product, a game manufacturer is not liable for what some fool thinks would be cool to emulate.
The broader theme here is that we tend to put blinders on toward a a philosophy depending upon how it effects us. We are by nature partial to decisions that have an effect. I suppose this trait is simply human nature. I believe in a law that is applied fairly. I may not like what the video game does, but I fail to see how I could ask for a liability shield for one group and not the other. Part of personal ethics is the ability to apply my ethics in a uniform method. When we start to pick and choose the battles based on how it impacts us, then at the end of the day, we stand for nothing.
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