Last year there was a spate of vehicle thefts in the United States, particularly in Chicago, and few would point out that violent video games were to blame. It is known that in 2020, a total of 1,417 vehicles were stolen in the city of Chicago, which meant twice as many thefts as the previous year, to which an Illinois lawmaker responds with the intention to ban the sale of violent video games since he considers them to be in the origin of the problem.
There is no evidence that there is a link between real violence and video game violence
Following the allegations received, a representative for the Entertainment Software Association said the industry understands and shares concerns about flights in Chicago, but in turn explains that there is no evidence that there is a connection between video games and real-world violence. In addition, he explained that it is necessary to analyze the reasons why these thefts are committed and to get to the bottom of things before accusing video games as the sole culprit of the thefts.
GTA V
Although the Illinois Criminal Code already restricts the sale of violent games to minors, they want to extend this ban by completely eliminating the sale of violent games. This was communicated by Democratic State Representative Marcus Evans Jr. that, not in accordance with the above, he also wishes to change the definition of “violent” to add “includes psychological harm, child abuse, child abuse sexual, animal abuse, violence, violence against women, or theft of a motor vehicle with a driver or passenger present inside the vehicle when the theft begins ”.
The bill that has already been introduced and, if passed, would ban games like Grand Theft Auto V as being considered violent gaming. Additionally, this has similarities to vehicle thefts in Chicago, while taking into account that this game has been on sale for over 7 years, could not be considered the culprit of the robberies of 2020.
Source: PCGamesN
