US politician wants to ban GTA to curb car theft.
Image: Rockstar/Reproduction
An American politician from Illinois introduced an amendment to ban the sale of violent games. According to the author of the project, the goal is to reduce crime, especially in Chicago, the most populous city in the state.
The author of the amendment is Marcus C. Evans Jr., a Democratic Party politician who was elected to a term similar to a state deputy in Brazil. The legislator’s proposal seeks to amend a 2012 criminal code law that regulates the sale of violent games to minors.
In addition to banning the trade in violent titles for people of all ages, the amendment alters the very definition of violent gaming. The proposed new terminology says that a game fits this issue when “it allows a user or player to control a character within the video game that is encouraged to perpetuate violence, in which the player kills or causes serious physical damage or psychological damage to another being human or animal”.
GTA V would be one of those responsible for crimes in Chicago, according to the politician
The bill also modifies the previous law’s definition of “serious bodily harm” to include “psychological harm and child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, violence against women, motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present” .
Evans Jr.’s intention to particularly cite car theft is driven by an increase in such crimes. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that in January there was a rise in these stocks in the city. In all, 218 cases of car theft were reported to the police in the period.
“The bill would prohibit the sale of some of these games that promote the activities we are suffering in our community,” the politician told the newspaper. He mentions by name the case of GTA V, which according to him would be contributing to the promotion of crimes.
Controversy
The proposal, which still proposes a fine of US$ 1,000 (about R$ 5,400 in direct conversion) for those who sell violent games, will certainly face a lot of resistance. In 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States had already ruled that California could not ban the sale of games to minors because it would go against “freedom of expression”.
Scientific studies say there is little or no correlation between real crimes and violent games.
“Like the books, plays and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideals – and even social messages – through many familiar devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot and music) and through distinct characteristics of the medium (such as interaction of the player with the virtual world)”, defended the then judge Antonin Scalia.
Last year, the American Psychological Association reported that there was little evidence of a causal relationship between violent games and violent behavior. “Attributing violence to electronic games is unscientific and diverts attention from other factors, such as a history of violence”, says an excerpt of the institution’s statement.
