Violent Video Game Tax Is Not a New Concept

This is a guest post from Contributor Derek Grant.

Pennsylvania lawmaker, Rep. Christopher B. Quinn, has introduced a bill that would impose a tax on mature rated games.

The bill, House Bill 109, states that “a tax will be imposed on each separate sale at retail of video games that have an adults only rating, or mature rating.” The tax rate suggested in the bill is for 10 percent of the purchase price per video game sold.

Rep. Quinn previously brought this bill to attention in late 2018 and it was shot down.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that this type of tax and any kind of implementation in the like against video games is not constitutional. In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association SCOTUS, in a 7-2 decision, ruled that video games are protected under the First Amendment just like other media. In that particular case the state of California was attempting to ban the sale of violent video games to children without parental supervision.

That was in 2011. It is now 2019 and it’s highly unlikely the ruling will change.

In 2018 after the Parkland shooting, President Donald Trump said “hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.” President Trump then met with the heads of major companies such as ZeniMax, the chief executive of Take Two Interactive, and the leader of the Entertainment Software Association.

Blaming video games for violence is nowhere near a new concept.

It started back in 1976 with a game called “Death Race.” The game was taken off the market due to a character death scene that involved a scream and a gravestone. More famously though is “Night Trap.” The game became so controversial it was removed from store shelves. Video game violence was blamed for Columbine, a school shooting in 1999 in which 15 people died – including the gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Despite constant research showing that there is not a link between violence and video games, it still persists within some people and government officials, including President Trump.

When will blaming violent video games for violent crimes stop? The answer is that it may never stop. It’s normal for people to seek a reason for everything that happens and, when young people commit atrocities such as Columbine or Parkland, video games are an easy thing to attack for some people. Regardless, there’s no link between video games and violence. Video games do not make people want to go out and commit atrocities. Far greater issues are the driving force within those people’s minds.

A study released in 2008 by Dr. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson showed that children who play “a lot” of M rated video games far more likely to get into physical altercations, but also more likely to report when they were threatened or injured with a weapon. The study also showed that those who play “a lot” of M rated games are less likely to be bullied. There was no evidence showing that playing M rated games excessively leads to extreme violence and the study does indicate that each child handles things differently depending on their situation, age and gender.

There is little chance this passes in Pennsylvania and doubtful it becomes more widespread.

I reached out to Rep. Quinn for a statement and, as of this writing, I have not received a response.