Games like Call of Duty have been thrown under the spotlight in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Following the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, games have been at the forefront of the debate on causes of gun violence in the US.

However, a comparison of ten countries conducted by The Washington Postsuggests there is actually little correlation between violent games and gun crime.

The comparison demonstrates that the US has the highest rate of gun-related crime in the developed world, and that countries where games are most popular have low gun-related murder rates.

The data shows that eight of the 10 countries that spend the most on games have less than one gun-related murder per 100,000 people.

Surprisingly, the US does not spend the most money on games per capita, ahead of only China, and yet it has the highest rate of gun-related crime by far, hovering around 3.25 per 100,000.

Australia is the sixth highest spender on games but has a gun-related crime rate of under 0.5 per 100,000 people.

According to reports, Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza “covered his bedroom walls in posters of guns and tanks and spent hours playing violent video games such as Call of Duty“.

45-year-old Peter Wlasuk told British tabloid The Sun that games like Call of Dutywere educating young people about guns.

“I’m not blaming the games for what happened. But they see a picture of a historical gun and say ‘I’ve used that on Call of Duty’.”

Source: The Washington Post