CHARLESTON, W. Va. — The Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, made statements yesterday blaming “access to pornography” as one of the main causes of mass shootings like the Uvalde, Texas massacre of 19 children and two teachers.
Gov. Justice did not provide any evidence of a link between adult material and mass shootings.
The only recently recorded link between pornography and a mass shooting — the Atlanta massacre of spa workers by a Christian terrorist on March 16, 2021 — actually involved the connection between targeted violence and anti-porn rhetoric and dubious “conversion therapies” for supposed “porn addicts.”
“Gov. Justice today expressed support for a holistic approach to gun violence in America, although he spoke broadly about national character rather than advocating specific policy ideas,” West Virginia’s MetroNews reported.
In a rambling response to a local clergyman’s call for gun control reform, Justice said, “We absolutely know without any question, to me, at least, that why in the world is an 18-year-old buying an assault weapon? A 21-year-old, I’d welcome it. But really and truly, we know all of the stuff that’s going on on social media, all across the land. We know the profanity. We know all the different stuff, all the porn, all the bad stuff that is out there that is getting in the minds of our children. We know all the violent video games getting in the mind of our children. Why don’t we do something about it?”
He added, “My world would say, ‘Let’s stop all the porn that our kids are absorbing every day.’ Stop the stuff on social media that is deteriorating their minds, worthlessly deteriorating their minds. Stop all the video violence that’s out there that’s doing the exact same thing. Let young men [be] on the pathway of growing up and being men. There’s nothing to be ashamed of about young men growing up and being men and protecting women, protecting kids, protecting people.”
According to local TV station WTRF, Gov. Justice also said, “How were things in America 50 years ago? I think in most people’s eyes, we have regressed. Think of the pornographic material our young are able to have access to now, think about the violence in video games that we continue to promote to our youngest.”
According to Justice, his opposition to gun control is based on his theory that “these tragedies will continue until we are willing to take an all-in, all-comprehensive approach to what’s going on and we’re really willing to use good logic and good sense.”
Justice's claim that things were better 50 years ago seems odd considering his conservative bent. The United States in 1972 was in the middle of the sexual revolution, on the way to legalized abortion, with expanded access to contraception and with an active campaign to guarantee equal rights for women with the Equal Rights Amendment. At the time, Justice’s Republican Party opposed all of these things and claimed the country needed to “go back” even further into the past.