Supreme Court: You Cannot Ban Violent Video Games in California

California is home to a lot of stuff- a lot of good stuff, like surf boards, silicon valley, delicious food, california pizza, beaches, dune buggies- and a lot of bad politics intermingled with religion and "traditional family values". I'm not here to argue that point, though. Let's get TO the point.

In 2004-2005, the state of California attempted to pass legislation banning the sale of violent video games. It passed the state house and senate, and immediately objections were raised. The issue found its way to court, and each time the courts ruled the ban unconstitutional, and a violation of the 1st Amendment. California kept appealing, feeling that it could spend public tax dollars on ensuring the ban of these video games.

Not too long ago, the Supreme Court (the highest court in the American justice system) ruled strongly in opposition to banning the games, citing a breach of liberty and free speech. One would think that parents are not only ignorant on the issue, but also do not know about lockouts and other features used to block unwanted content. If all else fails- why not take the game away from little Johnny?

In response, the state of California said "we are not as concerned about the material" (an outright lie) but that "we have issues on how it is marketed to kids". The simple answer is that these games (for the sake of clarity, let's talk about M rated shooters) are marketed for an older audience. Kids like things aimed at an older audience, and there you go.

Should it be right for stores to sell M rated games to kids 17 and older? or to a child with parental consent? I don't see a problem with that. Wal*Mart did it to me years ago, and my parents (stuck up a bit) didn't see a problem with the games because I was a responsible, respectable young adult.

There is also zero supporting evidence that violent video games turn people violent. I do fun things in Grand Theft Auto that I can't do elsewhere: but does that mean I go out and run over hookers and shoot cops? no. Are there cases of psychopaths blaming their crimes on video games? yep; but its the same paradox we have with guns. Guns don't kill people; people kill people.