The people at Techdirt.com have once again found some very unlikely news relating technology and governments. This time,
it’s about the Police Department in Mexico City, which has started a campaign to ‘
disarm’ the citizens…by giving them an Xbox or a Computer as a reward for handing in their guns. Who ever said that gaming is harmful?
Clearly, in this case, the Police Department is trying to substitute real ‘shot-out’ situations by offering people a gaming device (console, PC) through which they can shoot as many people as they want (virtually) in games such as GTA: San Andreas, but without doing any harm in the real world. Sounds like a promising prospect, but will it work?
I believe that, because it resembles a situation in which you would be rewarding your children with sweets for doing their homework – it creates bad habits don’t you think?
Another possibility is the one mentioned by the Techdirt.com writer: “it could just mean that folks with guns will now be stealing
more guns in order to get an Xbox while keeping a gun on the side (just in case).”
Sadly enough, the likelihood of this solution actually proving itself valuable is dim and I have a feeling that the Mexico City Police was soon have to resort to violence, again.