Crime and video games are surely connected at least according to Chicago state representative Marcus Evans Jr. who seeks to amend a law from 2012 and prohibit the sales of violent video games. Rockstar Games' GTA V falls among the latter and it could mean a ban for the title.
GTA V might soon get banned in Illinois. Crime is on the rise in Chicago and the rest of the state and the only logical solution to fight that is by banning violent video games. Yeah, it definitely won't be a better idea to look at the social and economic causes for that rise. Surely, video games are to blame.
State Representative Marcus Evans Jr. seeks to amend a previous law from 2012 which already prohibited the sale of violent games to minors. Evans wants to expand that circle and ban the sale of violent titles as a whole.
So what caused the sudden bill to appear in the first place? The rise of carjackings in Chicago of course and that's certainly related to too many people playing Rockstar's Grant Theft Auto. I mean, it's literally in the title so it's pretty clear right?
The bill would prohibit the sale of some of these games that promote the activities that we’re suffering from in our communities. - Evans commented
In addition to banning violent video games, the bill will also change the whole definition to "control a character within the video games that is encouraged to perpetuate human-on-human violence, in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or an animal."
In their defense, the state previously tried to combat the carjackings with Operation Safe Pump which placed extra security guards at gas stations and shopping centers (locations where a lot of carjackings happen). Since that didn't work, the man behind Safe Pump, Early Walker noticed similarities behind the carjackings and some of the actions you could take in GTA. After that, he contacted numerous legislators and now we have the result which is the bill in question.
I feel like this game has become a huge issue in this spectrum. When you compare the two, you see harsh similarities as it relates to these carjackings. - said Walker
Whether the bill will actually pass remains to be seen. In case it gets approved GTA won't be the only franchise in danger. Do you also find it preposterous? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter!
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