CDC to investigate gaming's role in US gun violence

The Centers for Disease Control has been charged by US President Barack Obama to investigate the role of videogames in acts of gun violence. Findings from the study will be presented in 3-5 years.

Institute of Medicine has reported that the research is not focused purely on games, but on the blanket causes of and plausible deterrents to gun violence across North America.

Games are just one are being looked at by the CDC. An introduction to the study reads, "While the vast majority of research on the effects of violence in media has focused on violence portrayed in television and movies, more recent research has expanded to include music, video games, social media, and the Internet – outlets that consume more and more of young people's days.

"However, in more than 50 years of research, no study has focused on firearm violence as a specific outcome of violence in media. As a result, a direct relationship between violence in media and real-life firearm violence has not been established and will require additional research."

The paper will be researched using a public health approach which, according to the institute covers three key areas, "The public health approach involves three elements: a focus on prevention, a focus on scientific methodology to identify risk and patterns, and multidisciplinary collaboration to address the problem. This approach has seen success in reducing tobacco use, unintentional poisonings, and motor vehicle fatalities."

Can gun violence see similar success as previous studies into other high-fatality areas? Let us know what you think below.

Thanks Joystiq.