Jacob Sullum on Misconceptions About the Sandy Hook Massacre

Last
December, less than a week after Adam Lanza murdered 20 children
and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,
Connecticut, the New York
Post described his “eerie lair of violent video
games,” where he “obliterated virtual victims…until the virtual
became a reality.” The Post reported that the troubled
20-year-old “was enthralled by blood-splattering, shoot-’em-up
electronic games.”

The official report on the massacre, released this week by
State’s Attorney Steven Sedensky, paints a more complicated
picture. Senior Editor Jacob Sullum says the report casts doubt on
the significance of Lanza’s gaming habits as well as several other
theories about why he did what he did or how he could have been
stopped.

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