Maryland and Indiana to hop on Violent Game Bill Bandwagon

Maryland and Indiana are the two newest states to join the government™s crusade against violent video games. Among the states that are already on the front lines are California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Delaware. Two bills are going to be introduced into the Maryland General Assembly. One imposes penalties ranging from a 5,000 dollar fine to a year in jail for selling an Adults Only (AO) game to a minor. Because of the lack of AO games that are on the market and the lack of retailers that carry “adult-only” games, this bill could be called “a pointless attack against the industry that only insults the intelligence of the electorate.” The second of the two is quite similar to the California bill which was recently put under judicial review in California State court. Under this bill, the state of Maryland would provide their own content ratings that differed the ESRB. The state woul then punish retailers that sold those games with no-minors ratings with a one thousand dollar fine. These two bills will be presented to the assembly sometime next week. As for Indiana, their bill is being sponsored by State Senator Vi Simpson, and aims to prohibit the sale of violent video games to minors. In a statement to the Associated Press regarding the bill, Vi stated, “We’re not setting ages or changing the ratings, we are asking retail agencies to enforce it. Right now, kids can walk into just about any store and get their hands on a video game in which they can shoot police officers, use drugs, steal cars, rape women or even assassinate a president. That’s frightening to say the least.” In previous Indiana game legislation, a law was passed preventing minors playing or coming in contact with violent video games. Needless to say that it was struck down by federal courts due to its constitutionality.
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