President Trump on Thursday warned about the influence of violence in movies while discussing school safety and mass shootings, suggesting it could be a contributing factor to recent mass shootings.
Trump made the comments during a meeting at the White House on school safety attended by lawmakers and top administration officials, where the president addressed a number of issues in addition to gun violence.
“We have to look at the internet, because a lot of bad things are happening to young kids and young minds, and their minds are being formed, and we have to do something about maybe what they’re seeing and how they’re seeing it. And also video games,” Trump said, according to pool reports.
{mosads}”I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts. And you go one further step and that’s the movies. … maybe they have to put a rating system for that,” he added.
However, ratings systems already exist for both video games and films in the United States. The Motion Picture Association of America and Entertainment Software Rating Board both rate and classify content based on its suitability for specific audiences.
The president’s remarks come a week after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The alleged gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was a former student at the school and reportedly used an AR-15 rifle he legally purchased.
Trump held a “listening session” on Wednesday with parents of victims as well as survivors of last week’s shooting, where the president stressed that his administration would take action to strengthen background checks for gun purchases.
“We’re going to be very strong on background checks,” the president said. “It’s not going to be talk like it has been in the past. It’s been going on too long. Too many instances, and were going to get it done.”
Trump also tweeted earlier Thursday in support of raising the age required to purchase a rifle like the one used in the Parkland attack to 21, as well as banning the sale of bump stocks, which let semi-automatic rifles fire more rapidly.
“I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue — I hope!”