The Rampaging Nanny State

Washington state legislator Mary Lou Dickerson wrote an op-ed for yesterday's Seattle Times defending the "Video Violence Law" which she sponsored. The law would impose a civil fine of up to $500 on anyone who sells or rents to minors under 17 any game that "depicts violence against public-safety officers".

While the column gives a few examples of some terribly tasteless games, Dickerson fails to make the case that the state should perform the supervisory role that is properly left to parents. Instead, there is hysteria:

We've already seen too many murders linked to violent video games, including mass school shootings in Kentucky, Arkansas and Colorado. The teenagers who murdered 13 people at Columbine High School trained on the game "Doom," with photographs from the high-school yearbook pasted onto the game's virtual victims.

"Linked"? Please. The Columbine shooting was also "linked" to bowling, Marilyn Manson, black trench coats and video cameras. Unable to find an actual causal relationship between video game violence and actual violence, Dickerson fantasizes one into existence:

How many killings will it take before the video-game industry admits there's a problem?

Should the "Video Violence Law" clear the hurdle of the federal courts, Dickerson will no doubt continue her efforts to stamp out all depictions of make-believe violence against public safety officers. If she gets her way, you can rest assured that:

* It will be illegal for anyone to sell or rent to minors the Jean-Luc Godard movie Breathless (the Belmondo character kills a policeman).

* It will be illegal for anyone to sell or rent to minors the book The Grapes of Wrath (Tom Joad kills a policeman)

* It will be illegal for children to play "Cops and Robbers". You know, in order to prevent any make-believe killings of make-believe cops by make-believe robbers using make-believe guns.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 31, 2003 07:00 AM