PAY TO PLAY

Some States Consider 'Sin Tax' on Violent Video Games

Would it help reduce real life gun violence?

Feb 22, 2013 by Lisa Fine

Staff Writer t

Image: WBUR

Lawmakers in at least two states are pushing for a tax on violent video games as the nation looks for ways to prevent gun violence after a mass-shooting two months ago at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

Connecticut State Rep. Debralee Hovey, whose district covers parts of Newtown, has introduced a bill that would impose a 10 percent "sin tax" on video games with a rating of "M" for mature, intended for people age 17 and older. Money collected from the tax would be used by the state to develop materials "to educate families on the warning signs of video game addiction and anti-social behavior," the Atlantic reports.

In Missouri, Rep. Diane Franklin introduced a similar measure calling for an only 1 percent surcharge on games with a Teen, Mature, or Adult Only rating. The bill says "immediate action is necessary to protect the mental health of individuals exposed to violent video games," the Atlantic said.

Violent video games have come under fire since news reports revealed that Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter, avidly played them. As part of a comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence, President Barack Obama has called for a federal study to examine the potential relationship among video games and real-life violence.

Via the Atlantic

Like this article? B Vote Up

?	Would a "sin tax" on violent video games help reduce real life violence?

>
Yes, it would help

>
It might help a little

>
No, it would not

View results

All : 88

Comments (view in Forum)

Feb '13

Neo_NtheMatrix

!
Seems like the carbon tax. The government will allow you to do something but will tax you for the activity and pretend as if the tax erases any potential negative consequence. I'm not very supportive of these measures. I say no more taxes.
- B3 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

AMSCountryboy

!
Lol wow..... how is it that so many people in positions of power are so god damn stupid?
- B4 • Vote Up r3 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

SavageMazx

!
And why do so many damn stupid people keep voting them back into office.
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @SavageMazx
Feb '13

AMSCountryboy

!
@SavageMazx beats the hell outa me man...
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AMSCountryboy
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
@SavageMazx "And why do so many damn stupid people keep voting them back into office."
There is the million dollar question. Here's a better one, who actually voted for them? Ever notice how the people who voted for shitty politicians gets smaller the worse they do?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
u
Feb '13

AceLuby

!
If those states want to do that, it's their prerogative. Will it do anything except gain some extra cash for the state? No.
- B2 • Vote Up r6 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Rocker

!
To answer the post topic - probably not but it'll put some more coin into somebody's pocket.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Rocker
u
Feb '13

Realthinker

!
Sin taxes are ineffective at modifying behavior.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Realthinker
u
Feb '13

AceLuby

!
@Realthinker Not true, cigarette taxes effect cigarette consumption.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AceLuby
u
Feb '13

Realthinker

!
@AceLuby I respectfully disagree. When I was a smoker I did not have care how much tax I was paying. Such taxes are usually only a few pennies. I think a tax per game would have to be as high as $10 before it discouraged sales.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Realthinker
u
Feb '13

AceLuby

!
@Realthinker I think your sample size of one is a little small to be making any kind statement on the effects of taxes disincentivizing behavior. Plenty of people quit smoking because it got too expensive.

I'm not saying it will work on video games, just that it does work with some behaviors.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AceLuby
View all 6 replies >
Feb '13

PNWest

!
IF you are going to impose sin taxes impose them on things that actually do hurt people - like guns and bullets.
- B1 • Vote Up r3 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

wonka45ACP

!
And all other Inamimate objects, that hurt people!
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @wonka45ACP
u
Feb '13

culinary

!
I swear I wish those damn guns -and bullets...and video games....and...- would stop killing people!!*thats sarcasm, by the way*
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @culinary
Feb '13
Post Removed by Moderators
Feb '13

PNWest

!
@John_Matrix Then chuckle on this Rambo wannabe....http://www.youtube. com/watch?feature=player_embed ded&v=5fWHFMQ8Wlk
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @PNWest
Feb '13
Post Removed by Moderators
View all 6 replies >
Feb '13

Knightkore

!
Penn & Teller did a study on this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Penn & Teller: Violent Videogames
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

justapirate

!
The idea is meant to do nothing more than enhance revenue. That's it.
- B2 • Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
u
Feb '13

BossTweed

!
Great idea for the Pension tax slave States like California. Any new source of revenue must be embraced to extend the time before total fiscal collapse
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @BossTweed
Feb '13

wonka45ACP

!
lord" I hope this government, doesn't spend a billion on the research, just to find out they are wrong! But you know its coming!
- B Vote Up r8 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

jessejaymes

!
Every since I heard that the govt spend money to figure out why kids fall over on tricycles nothing surprises me. Absolute nothing. I'm positive there is a govt funded study somewhere to find out why hookers charge more for white older men than they do for black young men. You don't suppose they know that most older white men HAVE MORE MONEY than young black men do you? It never ends with our corruption in govt. Institutionalized stupidity.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
Feb '13

wonka45ACP

!
@jessejaymes Caught the end of a news story the other day about a study of goldfish know anything about it? gov funded.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @wonka45ACP
Feb '13

jessejaymes

!
@wonka45ACP Are you talking about the giant goldfish they are finding in Lake Tahoe and they really really REALLY need to know how giant goldfish are surviving in such cold water?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
Feb '13

wonka45ACP

!
@jessejaymes No I'm looking it up now.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @wonka45ACP
Feb '13

wonka45ACP

!
@jessejaymes The military has funded a study about golden shiner fish, which scientists say are led to swim in schools of fish that could be paralleled for how public opinion is formed, as cited by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) in a November report on wasteful spending . this from some politico web page?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @wonka45ACP
View all 8 replies >
Feb '13

jessejaymes

!
Yeah like the politicians wouldn't divert that money to their never ending unlimited credit card. I'm opposed to violent video games but this is nothing more than an end run for revenue enhancement.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

AntiPorcheria

!
Sin Tax cigarettes and the smokers keep smoking. Sin Tax booze and the drinkers keep on drinking. Sin Tax fast food and the fatties keep getting fatter. Sin Tax video games and it's just free advertisement for the violent games. YOU CAN'T LEGISLATE BEHAVIOR!!
- B2 • Vote Up r7 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
"YOU CAN'T LEGISLATE BEHAVIOR!! "
Apparently some people feel they can. DOMA exists because it was propped up by and voted in by people who feel that the gay lifestyle is a choice, basically.... a behavior.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

AntiPorcheria

!
@Fishbone345 - Equally stupid legislation. Human nature exists. If you could command or legislate human nature there would be no need for pulpits, pastors and preachers...because nobody would ever ~{ SIN }~.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AntiPorcheria
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
@AntiPorcheria Oh I agree. In the interest of discussion however, what about Murder? Or Fraud? Assault and Battery, Grand Theft Auto?
All laws against behavior. ;)
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

AntiPorcheria

!
@Fishbone345 - What about download games? I got a free copy of Postal2 when I downloaded the movie Postal. I get to assault and shoot and blow up cars and buildings and kill dogs and cats and blow peoples heads off and shoot terrorists and shoot Gary Coleman and....well....you get the idea. It's a pretty disgusting, very adult game with no nudity.

One of my favorite games. Really lets the pressure off after a day of dealing with aholes.

Of course, as a 54 year old grampa I shouldn't play such things...but...whatever.

If they ever caught me playing my game the CIA would probably drone strike my whole family.

How about we start making the families of criminals pay a big chunk of their incarceration? Perhaps that would make parents take some responsibility early on. LOL!
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AntiPorcheria
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
@AntiPorcheria I don't think video games are the reason for the violent shootings we've had. I think its a cop out, and the reason the NRA has adopted it, is so people will shut up about guns and latch on to something else. Its the perfect deflection strategy.
Adam Lanza didn't do what he did because of GTA IV, or any of the war 1st person shooters. He was psychologically unstable, and his mother did a piss poor job of handling that. She knew there was something wrong, and her solution of giving him access to guns was about one of the stupidest damn things anyone has done in a long time.
I'm not supporting Gun Control, I'm just stating fact.
There have been shootings in this country that go back to its inception, and video games like the ones in question, have only been a part of that since the latter part of the nineties.
Charles Joseph Whitman didn't climb into a tower in the afternoon of August 1 1966 and start cutting people down because he saw it on a godamn video game, and neither did anyone else. I'm getting real damn tired of this argument from asshats that don't have a clue what they are talking about.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
View all 7 replies >
u
Feb '13

Hireman

!
In most states, taxes have to hit the general fund, so even if they're "for the purpose of", they rarely truly fund any new program. Bad idea. Fewer laws, more enforcement. Parents shouldn't be letting their kids have the games. Time for them to step up and do their jobs.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Thegrif

!
I think the whole damn country has gone crazy, a "Sin Tax" that is so funny.
So all these people who don't believe in God, do they have to pay? Cause they may have a problem with that, since if they don't think there is a God, then they obviously don't believe there is any such thing as a sin. Lol.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

DARSB

!
So... this is a proposal to tax a product in order to educate the public about dangers of the product that no one has shown exists... I think I prefer low information voters over low information legislators.
- B4 • Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Knightkore

!
On this one I agree with you completely....
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Knightkore
u
Feb '13

ozarks

!
Gol' dang I should run for congress. It's not video games. Its not fire arms, It is a combination of prescription drugs and how crappy our mental health system is. if you get counseling it could ruin your life, it stays on your record the rest of your life. you should remove the stigma from psych health care before anything
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

jessejaymes

!
You know for about 40 years of my 66 years I thought that people in Congress were smart people and someone like me just didn't see the big picture. Now I've come to the conclusion I'm just not good enough liar.
- B Vote Up r3 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
Or corrupt enough.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

jessejaymes

!
@Fishbone345 I have to disagree here Fish. I'm corrupt enough. Once when the newspaper were giving us lectures about "tightening up" in people taking things like post its and pens, I flared up and told the VP "you put 30 million dollars on the table in unmarked bills and give me a 24 hour head start and I'm your boy but .........." While I can be bought for a price I suppose, I just can't bring myself to stand before the American People and tell them that I did it for their own good and "reform" is a good thing.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
@jessejaymes my mistake then. :)
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

Medicinebow

!
What? no calls for mandatory background checks, waiting periods, liability insurance and mental health exams?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

JoinCCA

!
Sin Tax = bad idea... But I do agree on Barack Obama calling for a federal study to examine the potential relationship among video games and real-life violence.
- B Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

JoinCCA

!
Furthering our knowledge on issues is key to understanding it. If a study needs to be done, I will back it. Not saying it might, or might not, be a waist of money, but its good to have options in front of you to make a more intellectual debate about our issues.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @JoinCCA
u
Feb '13

Yank

!
Odd, when the NRA pointed a finger at violent video games, they were attacked by the left. When Obama calls for a study on the link, there is silence. When the report that the Newtown, CT shooter may have been influence by video games, there is silence.
- B Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
Not the middle. I said it was shit this entire time. And it still is.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
Oh good. More legislation to help lazy parents.
How much do those of us that live responsibly have to pay for those that don't?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Drake_Burrwood

!
Heck with a federal study, I'd have scholars and scientists study it, they would actually be interested in the data.
- B Vote Up r3 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Feb '13

Fishbone345

!
Scholars and scientists can be bought. Look at Climate Change. They support whatever theory is paying their bills.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Fishbone345
Feb '13

Drake_Burrwood

!
@Fishbone345 ;^) which is why I said heck with a federal study.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Drake_Burrwood
Feb '13

JoinCCA

!
@Fishbone345 thats why you cannot believe everything you read. Doing research of your own is key. If the information is politically motivated and false the truth of their deception will reveal itself. The problem is with the sheep who read something once and assume its truthful/factual.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @JoinCCA
Feb '13

VVP

!
Wow, one of the more ignorant and dumfounding ideas Ive ever seen. Do these people even use 1% of their brains?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
R Load more comments...

Politix

Would a "sin tax" on violent video games help reduce real life violence?

Would a "sin tax" on violent video games help reduce real life violence?