Illinois nannies ban video games
According to NPR, the Illinois legislature has just passed a bill to ban the sale of “violent” and “sexually explicit” video games to people under the age of 18. Similar laws have been struck down in other states but that has proven to be no deterrent to the Illinois solons. As this recent news item indicates, even representatives who know the bill is unconstitutional voted for it:
“I’m going to vote for this bill, but I’m voting for it for one reason — because this is a political bill,” said Sen. Mike Jacobs. “If I vote against it, it will show up in a campaign mail piece.”
What a show of political courage.
Steve Chapman in a Chicago Tribune op-ed titled Violent video games and Illinois’ loopy legislators noted that from 1993-2002, while video games were exploding in popularity, the number of adolescents arrested for murder declined by 65%. Other adolescent crime and teen pregnancies (as I’ve pointed out elsewhere) have also declined. In fact, violent crime has been trending down for nearly 30 years (see, Crime and the Drug War: the politics of hysteria) even as movies and TV have become more violent.
My daughter Liana, who is a consumer of video games (and the creator of the cartoon at the head of this post), is getting a crash course in government stupidity and overreach.