The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois State Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr. has proposed a ban on the sale of violent video games in response to an increase in carjacking incidents in and around Chicago. HB 3531, a bill Evans filed last week, would amend Illinois' violent video game law in the 2012 Criminal Code, which currently restricts the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, to "prohibit the sale of all violent video games."

The bill also seeks to expand the definition of "violent video game" in the context of the law to mean any game that encourages players to "perpetuate human-on-human violence in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or animal attempts to do so. Similarly, it expands what falls under "serious physical harm" to include "psychological harm, child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, violence against women, and motor vehicle theft with the driver or passenger in the vehicle at the time the theft begins."

The bill does not name specific games, but appears to primarily target "Grand Theft Auto," which allows players to carjack (among others) NPCs whenever they want a new ride. I feel like this game is a big deal in this arena," Walker said. 'When you compare the two, you start to see the striking similarities related to carjacking. [Those who have been around a little longer will recall that disgraced former attorney Jack Thompson waged a long-running war against GTA and Take-Two Interactive Chairman Strauss Zelnick, supporting state-level laws banning the sale of mature video games to minors. [However, these laws were repeatedly found unconstitutional, and ironically, California, then governed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, took the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it again lost: in a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the Court declared that video games, like other media, are protected by the First Amendment.

"Like the previously protected books, plays, and movies, video games convey ideas and even social messages through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and features unique to this medium (such as player interaction with the virtual world). The media conveys ideas and even social messages through familiar literary devices (characters, dialogue, plot, music, etc.) and features specific to this medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world). This is sufficient to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, 'aesthetic and moral judgments about art and literature are ...... should be made by individuals, not by the government, even if ordered or approved by the majority.'

No matter how one looks at it, the proposed ban is irrational. In the wake of this ruling, state-level efforts to legislate a ban on video games have virtually come to a halt. Since Evans' bill only aims to ban violent video games uniformly on the grounds that they are violent, it is unlikely to avoid conflict with this ruling.

"While our industry understands and shares the concerns about what is happening in Chicago, there is no evidence of a link between interactive entertainment and real world violence. We believe that the solution to this complex problem lies in a thorough examination of the actual factors that cause such behavior, rather than blaming video games on speculation alone."

Given the challenges facing this bill, it will be very interesting to see how it gains traction in the Illinois legislature. We have reached out to Rep. Evans for more information on his proposed legislation and will update if we hear back.