The head of the Entertainment Software Association was among a group of video-game industry representatives who met with President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss whether violent games were responsible for mass shootings such as the one that left 17 people dead at a Florida high school in February.

ESA CEO Michael Gallagher was one of seven attendees at the White House meeting, according to a list of participants obtained by CNN. Also in attendance was Pat Vance, president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-regulatory body established by ESA in 1994 to assign ratings to video games based on violent, sexual or mature content.

The meeting was closed to the press but The Washington Post spoke to participants after the event. Gallagher, Vance and two video-game industry CEOs were confronted by Trump and conservative activists who have sought to blame video games for gun violence, according to the newspaper. The meeting opened with Trump showing a montage of scenes from violent video games, which has since been uploaded to YouTube by the White House.

Trump has suggested violent media as a possible cause of gun violence since the Florida school shooting. The administration's critics say the focus on video games diverts from what they see as the real problem: the easy availability of guns in the U.S.

ESA did not immediately release any statements following the meeting. However, the group had released a statement to news outlets before the event noting that other countries play the same games yet do not experience the same levels of violence. http://wapo.st/2oURUw0

White House video

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