Tennessee senator proposes outright violent games ban

Violent video games should be banned from being sold to anyone of any age in the state of Tennessee, according to a bill proposed by Senator Tommy Kilby, who claims that it represents the concerns of parents and law enforcement officials.

The proposal is the most extreme of its kind so far in the US, where a recent flurry of activity against mature-rated video games has resulted in a series of proposals to control the sale of explicit interactive entertainment.

In particular, the proposal emphasises violence aimed towards authority figures and acts deemed sadistic and superfluous to killing an in-game character, "including infliction of gratuitous violence upon the victim beyond that necessary to commit the killing, needless mutilation of the victim's body, and helplessness of the victim."

The bill classifies an "extremely violent video game" as "a video game in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being."

If passed, bill SB3981 would come in to effect as soon as July 1st and would make it illegal to sell or rent any violent video game in the state of Tennessee. Less extreme pieces of legislation aimed at controlling the sale of such games to minors in other states have already been the subject of successful legal challenges under the First Amendment, however, and it seems unlikely that Senator Kilby's bill will stand up to similar legal scrutiny.