'GTA 6' CEO Slams Trump For Blaming Video Games For Dayton, El Paso Shootings

The CEO of video game maker Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick has criticized President Donald Trump for pinning responsibility on video games for the mass shootings in Dayton, and El Paso Texas in which 31 people were killed.

While the opposition Democrats pointed accusing fingers on Trump for his racial rhetoric as a possible inspiration for violent White nationalists, Trump and many government officials blamed video games for the mass shootings.

Rockstar Games, GTA are some of the highly popular video games.

The CEO said such statements from lawmakers and officials accusing video games of instigating crimes are “disrespectful” to the families of the victims.

Take-Two stock price had plunged 5 percent after the recent mass shootings.

Address the problem of gun violence in the US

In an interview, Zelnick urged government officials to address the uniquely American problem of gun violence and added he and his company are “sickened and saddened by these senseless tragedies.”

“That said blaming entertainment is irresponsible. Moreover, it is highly disrespectful to the victims and their families. The fact is entertainment is consumed worldwide…but gun violence is uniquely American. So we need to address the real issues,” the CEO added.

On Monday, President Trump urged all sections of the society not to glorify violence.

The President said: “The gruesome and grizzly video games that are now commonplace” is why mass shootings are becoming normalized. That made important Trump news as a high-level reaction against gun violence.

The concern is soaring over the rising number of mass shootings in the U.S. This year, there were 250 mass shootings within 219 days, according to some estimates.

President Trump's statement was also slammed by the Entertainment Software Association saying “numerous scientific studies have established that there is no causal connection between video games and violence.”

The trade body said more than 165 million Americans enjoy video games, and billions of people play video games worldwide. This is apparent from the popularity of video games like Grand Theft Auto, evident from the high GTA download numbers that run into millions.

“In other societies, where video games are played as avidly, do not contend with the tragic levels of violence that occur in the US.”

Long-standing demand for regulation of video games

However, blaming entertainment and video games as the villain behind violent acts in society is not new in the U.S.

In the 1990s, former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman launched a campaign against titles like Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat demanding greater regulation of violent video games.

The lawmaker even cited a video game as an example of gruesome violent acts such as attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking repeatedly and then killing her, then shooting her repeatedly.

Lieberman said entertainment companies may have a right to do that, but they also have a “responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect.”

The culpability of video games in promoting violence is also borne by the survey by Pew research center on Americans. The study in 2017 said 30 percent of Americans believe that gaming contributed to the spurt in gun violence.

The epidemic of mass shootings has triggered a widespread debate on other related issues such as gun control and mental health.