Illinois representative Marcus Evans caused quite a stir last month when he proposed legislation that seeks to ban the sale of all violent video games, in which he specifically mentioned Grand Theft Auto as an example. Now, Evans has offered an explanation for his move.
In an interview with Spiel Times, Evans said that the bill’s purpose is to raise questions about the impact of violent video games, and encourage a debate over potential steps that could be taken to lessen their impact. Evans is particularly concerned about violence on the streets of Chicago.
When Spiel Times pointed out that numerous studies, including one by the American Psychological Association, have found no meaningful correlation between violent video games and crime, Evans responded by dismissing the findings. He takes issue with studies using limited samples and control groups, and bizarrely suggested that the findings are unreliable because researchers didn’t study the potential impact of violent video games on “all the young men in Chicago.”
“They only studied a limited sample, and that study could be correct, but that study doesn’t stop the embulking conversation that we’re having,” Evans argued. “We know that everything we intake affects us. I know music affects me, food affects me, my relationships affect me, and maybe the violent games are affecting us. Or maybe it’s not, and that is a part of why we have the conversation – maybe we’re at a point where we say 100 percent that it doesn’t and we can be in agreeance, and then we can focus on the things that would help against violence and invoke the gaming community to be a part of helping solve violence in my community and other issues.”
You can check out the full interview over at Spiel Times.
