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NRA blames 'Grand Theft Auto,' 'American Psycho,' and music videos for gun violence

NRA blames 'Grand Theft Auto,' 'American Psycho,' and music videos for gun violence

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After temporarily suspending its operations on social media, the National Rifle Association held a press conference to address last week's shooting in Newtown, Connecticut — and among other things, it's placing some blame on Hollywood and the gaming industry. NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told an audience that a "callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry" of video game, movie, and music video creators "portray life as a joke, portray murder as a way of life, and then have the nerve to call it entertainment."

Some of LaPierre's comments over games echoed discussion in recent days: he complained about "vicious violent video games, with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse." More unusually, however, he also targeted decade-old movies: "We have bloodsoaked films out there like American Psycho, Natural Born Killers, they're aired on propaganda loops called Splatterdays, and every single day." American Psycho was released 12 years ago; Natural Born Killers is from 1994. The press conference, in which the NRA also proposed a plan for arming schools, has been liveblogged at a number of outlets.

Update: Full text is now available on the NRA's site.