MPAA signals readiness to talk about gun violence

Motion Picture Association of America CEO (and former Democratic Senator) Chris Dodd (CT) has announced that the film industry is ready to engage in a dialogue about gun safety.  According to Salon, Dodd's announcement comes only days after President Barack Obama called for a critical re-examination of "a culture that too often glorifies guns and violence" via a special task force.

"As chairman of the MPAA and on behalf of the motion picture and television studios we represent," Dodd said, "we join all Americans in expressing our sympathy as well as our horror and outrage at this senseless act of violence. Thus, I have reached out to the Administration to express our support for the President’s efforts in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. Those of us in the motion picture and television industry want to do our part to help America heal. We stand ready to be part of the national conversation.”

Dodd also said that the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has struck him particularly hard.  "As a citizen of Connecticut, and having represented the people there for 36 years in Washington, I have been shocked and profoundly saddened by this tragedy."

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