> I've never looked into it but my gut feeling is they desensitize us. Looking at the current state of the obsession with owning arms designed specifically to m

> I've never looked into it but my gut feeling is they desensitize us. Looking at the current state of the obsession with owning arms designed specifically to murder humans There have been studies on this and my recollection is that despite the "gut feelings" people have about this, it doesn't hold up to the level of being able to prove causation. At best, there is a level of correlation (not strong). Most I've read show that people are able to differentiate between reality and "entertainment". I'd recommend looking into the studies that have been done (and be warned, there are also some really bad studies in this area, paid for, low sample size, etc.) Also, I fully recognize that this is an area we need more study because it's been stymied for years by various laws that prevent investment in researching anything that is in this area. Note - I also want to clarify that I am not a gun nut or 2A absolutist or anything of that nature and not trying to dive down that rabbit hole - so not trying to defend their misplaced importance and/or misuse in any way. And I'm also not saying we should wait to try things for studies to be done. But I think it's important to know the real underlying issues so we work toward fixing the problem correctly.