Trump revives debate over influence of violent video games as he looks for ways to respond to Florida school shooting

Donald Trump has revived the debate over the link between gun violence and violent video games as he meets industry executives and critics in the wake of the school shooting in Florida last month.

The influence of violent video games and other media has been a constant calling card for conservatives after incidents of gun violence since the 1990s. They often mention games like Grand Theft Auto and Doom, which have violent themes and are published by companies who were represented in the meeting.

The President has held numerous free-wheeling sessions in the White House in the last few weeks to discuss ways to stop gun violence – but unlike the majority of the other sessions, the round-table with video-game executives was not fully open to journalists.

“I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” Mr Trump said after the school shooting in Florida last month that left 17 people dead. On Twitter in 2012, Mr Trump had written that video games are “creating monsters”.

“Video game violence & glorification must be stopped,” Mr Trump’s tweet said, although decades of research have failed to find a link between gun violence and graphic violence in games. However, attendees at Thursday’s meeting said the President had sought to hear from both sides.

“He asked a lot of questions and he raised concerns with the violent nature of these games and asked the question: Is this causing the kids to have (this) violent behaviour?” said Republican Congresswomen Vicky Hartzler.

Those attending the meeting from the video game industry included representatives of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The ESA said in a statement that they had “discussed the numerous scientific studies establishing that there is no connection between video games and violence. First Amendment protection of video games, and how our industry’s rating system effectively helps parents make informed entertainment choices.”

Also attending were a representative of the Parents Television Council, a conservative watchdog group, as well as conservative activist Brent Bozell – a longtime critic of video game violence who founded the council – and the author of a book linking mass killings to violent video games.

The conversation lasted for almost an hour and was “vigorous” but “respectful,” Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council, said. Ms Henson, who has a 9-year-old son, said she thinks more detailed video game ratings should be available to parents.

In response to a question about why Mr Trump is meeting with the executives, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday that “the President wants to continue the conversation on every different area that we can to help promote school safety”.

“We think it’s an important discussion to have and one that the President looks forward to,” Ms Sanders said.

In the immediate aftermath of many shootings in the US, Democrats have called for gun restrictions while Republicans have tended to hone in on the mental state of the shooters.

“Unproven and emotionally driven gun control legislation is a common and simplistic response to gun-related tragedies, but such lawmaking usually fails to address the underlying problem,” wrote Republican Representative Vicky Hartzler in 2013. “We must have a meaningful conversation about mental health issues and other possible cultural and societal contributors to violent behaviour, such as violence in video games.”

In 2011, the US Supreme Court held in a 7-2 decision that video games qualify as protected free speech, and that California’s 2005 law severely restricting the sale of violent video games to minors without parental consent is unconstitutional.

“Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas – and even social messages – through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world),” wrote conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority opinion. “That suffices to confer First Amendment protection.”

Mr Scalia died in early 2016. Less than a month after being inaugurated as President, Mr Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, a judge seen to be in the mold of Mr Scalia. The Senate confirmed Mr Gorsuch to the high court in April 2017.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report