The National Rifle Association has ended their week-long silence in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting. NRA VP Wayne LaPierre argued that guns themselves are not the cause of gun-related violence in the country, choosing to deflect much of the blame on violent media. "There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people," Lapierre said in a press conference.

He then named specific titles as examples of the media's corrupting influence: "Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm (pictured), Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse."

He also pointed out a game called "Kindergarten Killer," insinuating that the media had covered up any serious discussion around it. "It's been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn't or didn't want anyone to know you had found it?" The title appears to be a rudimentary Flash game with the main character mowing down cartoon children in shooting gallery.

LaPierre added: "Isn't fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?"

The NRA believes that future incidents like the one in Newton can be prevented by implementing armed guards in schools. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre noted.

Asa Hutchinson, former administrator of the DEA and former member of the US House of Representatives, also chimed in on the NRA's plan: "School safety is a complex issue with no simple, single solution.
But I believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of deterrence as well as the last line of defense. And I welcome the opportunity to serve in this vital, potentially lifesaving effort."

You can read the full transcript of the press conference here.

Update: The Entertainment Consumers Association issued their own statement in response to the NRA comments:

We agree with the Supreme Court's decisions, and the volumes of scientific research, which all clearly state that there is no causal link between media violence and real life violence," said Jennifer Mercurio, Vice President & General Counsel at the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA). "As we are all learning increasingly through the news, this is a situation of the perpetrator's mental disorders, and his family's inability to adequately deal with them in time. Our hearts remain with all those suffering in the aftermath of this horrendous crime.