Illinois Gov. Seeks Violent Video Game Ban

Foobar_Zen writes "Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has apparently decided to build on past "wins". He seeks to impose legislation that will prohibit the distribution, sale, rental and availability of mature video games to children younger than 18. Breaking of this law would be punishable by up to one year in prison or a $5,000 fine." From the article: "The Illinois Retail Merchants Association blasted the governor's proposal as a way for retailers to become "the violence and sensitivity police for the state of Illinois." Update: 12/16 21:14 GMT by Z : Lum's take on this over at Broken Toys is excellent.

Comments

The mysterious AO rating...

[gumpish]

I think it's a good idea to require proof of age when purchasing games marked AO or Mature by the ERSB.

Are there really any games rated AO? They seem to be far more scarce than NC-17 films...

Re:video games are NOT physically harmful!

[John Seminal]

We never had people bringing guns to school before video games became popular.

care to prove that?

I have lived long enough to remember what it was like before violent video games. And it has only been in the recent history that kids have brought guns to school, and in some cases killed their classmates.

The question is "where did these kids get the idea that to bring guns to school". Or "why didn't the kids sense of right and wrong kick in". The anwser is obvious, video games have taken the role of parents in teaching them a set of values.

It is simple, kids have no right to enter into contracts. Kids have no rights to decide how to live. Parents do. And if a parent is negligent, then society steps in (much like the criminal system). As a taxpayer, to me the anwser is simple. Regulate the violence before it becomes enough of a problem that these kids have to be locked up.