[mistercow]

I don't think there is a real issue here, because there's a lack of good evidence that video games are linked to real-life murders in the first place, regardless of parental influence.

Sure, there's some evidence that playing violent video games increases aggressive play in young children, but to connect the dots from that to shooting sprees is like concluding that because baby dolls encourage maternal role play in young girls, exposure to dolls will lead to higher teen pregnancy rates. It's an insane generalization in the first place, and there's no reason to even bring parental responsibility into the discussion.