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Posted January 16, 2013 by Amy in News
 
 

NRA Endorsed Republican Pushes Tax On Violent Games

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Because taxing things that have actually been shown to increase violence would be silly.

A lawmaker (Diane Franklin) from the state of Missouri is proposing a new tax. That’s not big surprise; politicians just love to tax just about anything they can get their hands on. But this tax sits right on a line between patently ridiculous and violation of the fourth amendment. It’s a 1% tax on violent video games, and the money is meant to be set aside to specifically treat mental illness caused by violent video games. Never mind that there *aren’t* any mental illnesses proven or even plausibly suspected of being caused by video games. That’s just useless details, I suppose.

 

So what constitutes a violent video game? Anything rated “T” or above. There are no exceptions to that specification either. It doesn’t matter why the game is rated the way it is. Even if there is no violence at all in a game, it will still be taxed. Hey, why not? More money for all those people suffering videogameitis, I suppose. Even more puzzling is the fact that there are no other types of violent media included in this tax. One would assume that if consuming violence in an entertainment setting would cause mental illness, then violent movies, music, books, etc, would also be on the taxing block, but it is only video games getting the ax in Missouri.

 

For anyone following the news in the past few weeks, it should surprise you absolutely not at all to hear that the NRA has endorsed Representative Franklin. After all, their newly released video game teaching the basics of shooting to kill is rated for ages 4 and up. Video game developers take note:  shooting games are only acceptable if you let the kiddies play too.

 

Source:  Games Industry International


Amy

 
U.S. Senior Editor & Deputy EIC, @averyzoe on Twitter, mother of 5, gamer, reader, wife to @macanthony, and all-around bad-ass (no, not really)