NRA Says Media, Video Games 'Sell And Sow Violence'

News accounts of a National Rifle Association press conference headlined the group's call for more armed civilians around schools, as an NRA leader argued that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

Friday's press event was the NRA's first response to the horrific shooting of 26 people at a school in Newtown, CT.

But less attention was paid to NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre's attack on the media as a "callous . . . industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people."

This excerpt from LaPierre's statement, taken from a Washington Post transcript of the event, blasts:

"Vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse . . . . (and) . . . blood-soaked slasher films like "American Psycho" and "Natural Born Killers" . . .

. . . In a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an ever-more-toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty into our homes — every minute of every day of every month of every year."

Do you agree with any part of LaPierre's critique? Do you think violent media can inspire violent acts? And, if so, what is out personal or public responsiility to prevent the products of vicarious violence from becoming the breeding ground for bloodly acts?

 Get San Leandro Patch delivered by email. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @sanleandropatch. Or start your own blog