After a week of silence following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting from last week, the National Rifle Association held a press conference this morning to address the situation. But it certainly didn’t go without controversy.
Executive vice president for the NRA Wayne LaPierre stated that violent video games, music videos and movies are to blame, not guns.
“There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against its own people,” LaPierre says. “Through vicious violent video games, with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: It’s called Kindergarten Killers. it’s been online for 10 years. How come my research staff can find it, and all yours couldn’t, or didn’t want anyone to know you’ve found it?”
He also stated how gun-free zones act as indicative points where killers can strike, and that “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” During the press conference, protestors managed to sneak in and show off banners stating words like “NRA KILLING OUR KIDS”. So take their word for what it’s worth, whatever that is.
In response, the ECA has fired back at the NRA, feeling that the violent media is NOT to blame. (And in excellent fashion, might we add.) Jennifer Mercurio, vice president and general counsel for the ECA, stated: “We agree with the Supreme Court’s decisions, and the volumes of scientific research, which all clearly state that there is no causal link between media violence and real life violence. As we are all learning increasingly through the news, this is a situation of the perpetrator’s mental disorders, and his family’s inability to adequately deal with them in time. Our hearts remain with all those suffering in the aftermath of this horrendous crime.”
