Mental health problems aren’t just an American problem. This German kid went ballistic back in 2006 playing a multi-player killing game tournament on the Internet. The game wouldn’t start fast enough for him and he wasn’t performing well in it.
It was later discovered his name is Leopold. He was about 14 years old back then and was secretly filmed by his father as part of a German television special that was originally intended to expose computer addiction.
Before it aired there was a mass murder of more than a dozen people by a crazed gunman in a small German town. This video was then used as part of a program about the evils of “killing type” computer games in the hope of banning their sale in Germany.
Leopold was subsequently “mobbed” (beat up) by classmates on occasion and was unfairly characterized as a “Nazi” by many who viewed the video. He had previously uploaded a number of his own recordings in his persona of “Gangster,” and claimed because he was so good in his “Gangster” role and that he was aware of this episode being recorded, people mistakenly believed his “false” tirade.
Nobody believed his explanation and he decided to stop uploading videos of himself.
Originally, when this video found its way to Youtube, it had no subtitles and was copied by some who viewed it. Users placed false subtitles, often indicating he was cursing a soccer game, or other scenarios for humor value.
This version is the true German translation, complete with cursing.
Germany has some tough gun laws. Leopold is now an adult over 21.
Admittedly, I was laughing when I first saw him destroying his computer keyboard and going berserk. It wasn’t so funny when I realized this kid in the video is now an adult.
Ask yourself, if he were an American, would you want him owning a gun?
If he were an American, he could.
Not so, in Germany. They take mental health history into consideration before allowing their citizens to purchase weapons and have some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.
In Germany, persons who are:
- convicted felons
- have a record of mental disorder or
- are deemed unreliable (which includes people with drug or alcohol addiction histories and known violent or aggressive persons)
are barred from obtaining a firearms ownership license.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
