23 February 2021 The ESA has issued a statement on the proposed Illinois legislation.
A result of car rapes in Chicago over the past year has, of course, led some to point fingers at violent video games. Now an Illinois lawmaker wants to amend a state restriction on the sale of violent games to minors so that it will ban the sale of violent games to anyone – and can define the portrayal of theft of motor vehicles as violence.
Following the original publication of this article, a representative of the Entertainment Software Association, the largest game trading association in the United States, issued the following statement: “While our industry understands and shares concerns about what happened in Chicago, there is simple no evidence of a link between interactive entertainment and actual violence. We believe that the solution to this complex problem is to thoroughly investigate the real factors that drive such behavior, rather than blaming video games based solely on speculation. ”
Illinois’ 2012 criminal law restricts the sale of violent games to minors, with a $ 1,000 fine as a penalty. Democratic State Representative Marcus Evans Jr. introduced HB3531, which would completely ban the sale of violent games. The bill will also change the definition of ‘violent’ to offer ‘psychological harm and child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, violence against women or theft of motor vehicles with a driver or passenger in the vehicle when the theft begins. ”
There were 1,417 cars reported in Chicago in 2020, double the number that occurred a year earlier, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported. It was a big problem to deter efforts like Operation Safe Pump, which has a private security firm that places guards at local gas stations.
“The bill bans the sale of some of these games that promote the activities we suffer in our communities,” Evans told the Sun-Times. He adds that games like Grand Theft Auto have become a major issue in this spectrum. If you compare the two, you see hard similarities associated with these cars. “
The amendment would also repeal a portion of existing criminal law, which requires retailers to display an ’18’ label on all violent games. (I have to assume it disappears because it was never applied.)
It’s 2021, and here I am writing about attempts to ban violent video games. If you’ve been telling me for a decade that we’re still talking about politicians trying to blame bigger problems on video games, well … I think I should believe you, because maybe nothing really changes.