The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has suggested that video games could play a role in gun violence and mass shootings within the nation. He noted that video games are part of a broader investigation into the various contributing factors to the alarming rate of gun violence in the U.S.

Gun Violence and Video Games

Much of the public discourse around mass shootings was initiated by the Columbine High School shootings in 1999, where the shooters’ admiration for id Software’s FPS Doom often being linked to their violent actions.

In a recent video by PBS NewsHour, Kennedy remarked on the unusually high incidents of shootings in the U.S., emphasizing that “this is not occurring in other countries.” He pointed to escalating mass shootings since the 1990s and mentioned various potential causes, which include unspecified “psychiatric drugs,” social media, and video games. He stated that the National Institute of Health is examining these possible links. Kennedy is not alone in his concerns; President Donald Trump previously called for regulation of the gaming industry following tragedies linked to mass shootings.

Kennedy’s own life has been deeply touched by gun violence, having lost both his father, Senator Robert F. Kennedy Sr., and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, to assassinations in the 1960s. In the year 2025 alone, over 300 incidents involving at least four deaths or injuries have been logged by the Gun Violence Archive. Earlier in the year, Activision faced a lawsuit related to the tragic Uvalde school shooting, denying that its Call of Duty games had any influence on the perpetrator’s actions.

As Kennedy suggests, video games aren’t the sole media portraying gun violence. Prominent artists have also modified their creations to avoid glorifying such actions. For instance, James Cameron modified scenes in Avatar: The Way of Water to express his disapproval of gun violence, reflecting on his earlier work in the Terminator series decades ago.