Joystick Warriors

A disclaimer: I play a lot of video games. I own an Xbox One and play (almost) nightly with my friends online through Xbox Live, so I have a good understanding of video games and the violence within. I do enjoy the explicitly violent titles like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, etc. I've grown up playing video games and while I can say that I have personally never felt drawn to committing acts of real life violence, I cannot speak for everyone. I'm also able to recognize the influence of modern gun manufacturers in today's most popular shooting titles. 

I cannot think of any real life instances of gun violence that is influenced, but video games definitely glamorize real life models of guns in such titles as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and more. In these games, players can use real life models of guns and the games provide the players with the exact name, firing rate, and damage inflicted with real life guns including AK-47s, M16s, and more.  

Gun customization menu in Call of Duty, including real life specs and names of the weapon

In doing this, gun manufacterurs are marketing their products to video game players across the world, and could possibly lead to some of them buying a gun they used in a video game, in real life. 

Game can also depict really explicit gun violence situations, regardless of what is going on in the real world. In one of the Call of Duty titles, Modern Warfare 2, the player is put in control of a Russian terrorist group committing a mass shooting in an airport with real models of assault rifles. The sequence was met with much criticism, but it begs the question of how much realistic gun violence in video games can eventually lead to real life gun violence. 

[source for image: 

https://www.google.com/search?q=modern+warfare+weapons+gif&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=580&tbm=isch&imgil=fmQDFjUV9FS9MM%253A%253BQQJsD9GonFxh-M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fcharlieintel.com%25252F2015%25252F07%25252F21%25252Fblunderbuss-stg44-and-svo-weapons-for-advanced-warfare-available-now-on-xbox-one%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=fmQDFjUV9FS9MM%253A%252CQQJsD9GonFxh-M%252C_&usg=__9KrDTMVkk-fs-boLfTK7MAYwizI%3D&ved=0ahUKEwj3ipfQ-Z3SAhVK6IMKHUtKDm4QyjcIMw&ei=on-qWPcxytCPBMuUufAG#tbm=isch&q=call+of+duty+weapon+menu+&imgrc=yGT-T1h_aaAG9M: ]