Video game execs to visit WH, argue product is not to blame for gun violence

Video game executives will argue during a White House visit Thursday that their products are not to blame for school shootings or gun violence in the U.S., a trade association representing the industry told The Hill.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) on Monday told The Hill it plans to make the case that violent video games should not be singled out for mass shootings and gun violence in the country.

“Like all Americans, we are deeply concerned about the level of gun violence in the United States,” said ESA spokesman Dan Hewitt in a statement. “Video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation.”

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Last week, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the president planned to meet with industry representatives, though ESA said at the time that it had not heard from the administration.

The meeting comes after Trump had criticized violent video games at a summit with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that convened at the White House last month following a high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead.

“The upcoming meeting at the White House, which ESA will attend, will provide the opportunity to have a fact-based conversation about video game ratings, our industry’s commitment to parents, and the tools we provide to make informed entertainment choices,” Hewitt added in his statement.

It’s unclear who else was invited to the meeting, or if the president plans on attending. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond when asked to comment.