NRA talks trigger Don gun recoil
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S plan to meet with video game makers about gun violence was news to them.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Thursday that Trump would have a sitdown with “members of the video game industry to see what they can do” at the White House next week.
On Friday, Sanders said invitations had just started going out.
“In terms of the details, we’re still finalizing what that’s going to look like,” she told reporters.
The idea for the sitdown was inspired by last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, reportedly a had a video game obsession. His neighbor, Paul Gold, told the Miami Herald he would play for up to 15 hours a day.
The President — a longtime critic of violent video games — said, “I’m hearing more and more people saying the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”
Members of the gaming community — who say they have not yet been invited to a sit-down with the President — were quick to dismiss the comments.
“The same video games played in the U.S. are played worldwide; however, the level of gun violence is exponentially higher in the U.S. than in other countries,” the Entertainment Software Association said in a statement. The group’s membership includes major names in gaming, including Nintendo, PlayStation, Activision and Electronic Arts.
“Numerous authorities have examined scientific records and found there is no link between media content and real-life violence,” the group said.
The United States has a passion for first-person shooter video games, but so do other nations with lower murder rates.
More than 27% of video games sold in the United States in 2016 were shooter games — making it the most popular genre in the country, according to Entertainment Software Association data. America’s top selling games that year include Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1 and Grand Theft Auto V.
While full statistics about game genres aren’t available for each country, similar games are popular in nations that have low gun violence rates.
One of China’s most talked about games, for example, is currently Player Unknown Battlegrounds, which pits players against each other in a largescale death match, where they fight to be the last alive.
More than 10 million people pre-registered for the battle-royale multiplayer shooting game since China announced it would allow citizens to play the game in November. China has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world.
Experts have differing opinions on how young children and teens react to and are impacted by violent and first-person shooter games. Both the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics recognize “exposure to violence in media, including television, movies, music and video games, as a significant risk to health of children and adolescents.”
More than 90% of America’s children play video games, with that figure jumping to 97% for kids between the ages of 12 and 17, according to American Psychological Association study released in 2015. The psychological group said there is a clear link “between violent video game use and both increases in aggressive behavior.” THE WHITE HOUSE walked back several of President Trump’s comments on gun control Friday — after the commander-in-chief met with officials from the National Rifle Association.
Trump made no promises to NRA leaders during a Thursday night Oval Office meeting, but vowed to “continue to support the Second Amendment,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
But Sanders sought to tame expectations after Trump’s wide array of promises and proposals, made in the wake of the country’s latest school shooting, on gun-related legislation.
Trump is “interested in improving” the background check system, but does not necessarily support the universal checks favored by Democrats, as he indicated during a sitdown with lawmakers earlier in the week.
“Not necessarily universal background checks, but certainly improving the background check system,” Sanders said.
Trump had vowed to present concrete proposals regarding gun measures by Friday, but there was no sign of them late in the day.Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have told Trump a comprehensive package on gun safety could only pass Congress if he takes the lead.