Respawn: Cali. Violent Games Bill Gets Second Life

As we reported earlier this week, a California bill which sought to ban the sale of violent video games to minors and punish retailers failed to get out of committee by one vote. Yesterday, however, the committee reconsidered and voted it out of commmittee by a 6-4 vote. The bill will now go to the full assembly. Leland Yee, who authored this bill and at least one other that never made it very far simply doesn't get it.

Yee told Reuters, "For the same reason we don't allow kids to buy pornography, cigarettes, or alcohol, we shouldn't allow them to go to stores and buy video games that teach them to do the very things we put people in jail for."

As always, the Lunabean stance is that kids shouldn't be playing violent video games. That is true. That's why there is a ratings system. If the government and the ESRB would work together to fund an educational campaign (think Fox's V-chip ads) so that parents would be able to understand the ratings and if the government would fine the store, not the employee, then things would get better.

And, not that they're bad right now. Sure, the occasional kid will slip through the cracks and be able to buy a violent game, but the vast majority of kids who are playing violent games had a parent buy it for them. A nine year old shouldn't have $50 and transportation to a video game store.

I guess what I find most striking about this Cali. bill is that it got second legs. Who put pressure on the two people to change thier votes? Focus on the Family...I'm looking in your direction.