On December 14, 2012, my mom and I traveled to my son’s elementary school to watch his holiday show. He performed with the other kids in his first-grade class. They sang songs about Christmas and Hanukkah and even got in a little drumming. It was adorable. I kissed him goodbye, ruffled his hair, and left.
I chatted all of the way back to the car. And then, in just a few moments that seemed to hang in the air, I heard the news on the radio about Sandy Hook. Twenty children. First graders. With big smiles and bigger dreams. All like my Charlie.
It was all I could do not to turn my car back around and go get my son. But I didn’t. I felt – like most of America – rather paralyzed.
I wrote this post a few days later. I still had no answers.
It’s only been about two months since that terrible day. The lives of families in that small town were altered in a way that I know I will never be able to understand. And we, as a nation, don’t seem to know how to move forward.
We’ve talked about gun control and better laws, more enforcement. But we haven’t done much. I’m not sure that we know how – yet.
One Connecticut lawmaker thinks she has an answer. State Rep. Debralee Hovey (R – 112th District), whose district includes parts of Newtown, has proposed a tax on violent video games. Her legislation, Proposed Bill No. 5735 (downloads as a pdf), would impose a 10% sales tax on the sale of video games rated “mature.” The proceeds from the tax would be used by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the “purpose of developing informational materials to educate families on the warning signs of video game addiction and antisocial behavior.” Hovey has referred to it as “like a sin tax.”
The “M” rating is one assigned by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) which seeks to inform consumers about the content in video games and mobile apps. A rating of “M” or “Mature” means:
Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
I know what you’re thinking: how is this related to Sandy Hook? The bill is clearly a reference to the statements made by Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, after the Sandy Hook shootings. Shortly after the shootings, LaPierre said that video game companies shared the blame for gun violence, saying (transcript of speech downloads as pdf):
And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.
Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?
It’s clear that Rep. Hovey shares LaPierre’s concerns about the link between gun violence and video games. And it’s not my intention to politicize this debate any more than it already has been. I’ve already confessed that I don’t know the answers.
But I will say this: I’m not a fan of reactionary legislation. And I’m not a fan of sin taxes. I think neither tends to be effective at what they hope to accomplish. Tax policy isn’t generally effective at curbing what we perceive to be “bad” behaviors. If it did, no one would smoke, drink, get a tan, or watch porn.
Say what you will about the thought process behind Hovey’s proposal. Whether you agree with her philosophy or not, her methodology leaves something to be desired. Taxing violent video games will be as effective at ending gun violence as taxing bullets.
The bill currently sits in the Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding.
