Personal Responsibility

Philip Morris is not responsible for young people who make the decision to begin smoking. Philip Morris is not responsible for young people who become addicted to tobacco products. Philip Morris is not responsible for young people who suddenly find they now have cancer of the lungs or lips. Philip Morris is not responsible for filling the air of non-smokers with smoke. The responsibility lies with the smokers, alone.

McDonald’s is not responsible for people who don’t make wise decisions about the food they eat. McDonald’s is not responsible for people who refuse to believe that their own choices have made them fat, and given them high cholesterol levels. McDonald’s is certainly not responsible for any numb-headed individual who orders a hot coffee, and then, inexplicably, finds that the coffee they ordered is, indeed, hot. The responsibility lies with the eaters, alone.

Rockstar Games is not responsible for turning fine young men into psychopathic killers. Rockstar Games has never brainwashed anyone into committing crimes. Rockstar Games is not responsible for any illegal actions committed by anyone who claims that their computer/ console made them do it. The responsibility for their actions lies with the gamers, alone.

Browning is not responsible for any individual who decides they want to kill someone with a gun. Browning is not responsible for aiming the sights, or pulling the trigger. The responsibility lies with the shooter, alone.

It’s time for the American people to grow up and take responsibility for their own actions. It’s time for the families of victims to realize that the ultimate responsibility lies with the offender. It is the height of idiocy to claim that anyone but the murderer (and accomplices) is to blame for a murder. Why stop with prosecuting the Game developer? Why not also prosecute computer and game console manufacturers? Why stop there? Why not blame it all on Bill Gates (after all, as any trial lawyer knows, it's best to lay the blame where the money is)?

I know what it’s like to lose a family member to a brutal murderer. There were over 50 wounds found in his body. They weren’t caused by a gun, but by a butcher knife. So, should we, the family, have prosecuted K-Mart, for selling knives in their kitchen department? Why stop there? Should we prosecute Classic Cutlery for making the knife in the first place? Why stop there? Should we prosecute the steel mill that smelted the ore? You make the call.