Debralee Hovey, Connecticut state representative whose district includes Newtown, has proposed a 10 per cent tax on all video games rated M for Mature, regardless if the video games have such a rating for violence or not. She told Eyewitness News WFSB that she wants to see the money raised from the tax to be used for mental health services. The bill is currently sitting in the Legislature's revenue and bonding committee.
After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut in December, we've seen a string of knee-jerk bill proposals such as this one. It was really only an amount of time before we would see one surface in the Newton region itself.
What's most interesting is the reaction of the bill from Connecticut citizens as reported by WFSB.
"Why? That's not really the main reason," said Leonel Colon of East Hartford. "It doesn't cause violence to others around. It's choices you make probably and what you do."
Ricardo Bustamante of Manchester told Eyewitness News that parents should be censoring their own children.
"We as parents should be censoring what our kids play and watch," he said. "If anything it should be more enforced about gun laws and worried about who is owning a gun nowadays."
I can't help but agree with these statements. I also can't help but think this bill will die in committee, although if such a tax would succeed anywhere, it would be in Connecticut.
