Quinn believes violent video games contribute to school violence. In the co-sponsorship memorandum for his proposal, he cited an article from the National Center for Health Research indicating that “playing violent video games can increase aggressive thoughts, behaviors, and feelings in both the short-term and long-term.”
He explained that his proposal is a “matter of trying to figure out” generating “some revenue that’s directly coming from the problem itself…”
Video game industry believes the legislation will fail
Meanwhile, Dan Hewitt, the spokesperson for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), expressed confidence that Quinn’s legislation will not pass the Pennsylvania legislature.
According to Hewitt, “The U.S. Supreme Court made clear … video games are entitled to the full protection of the Constitution and that efforts, like Pennsylvania’s, to single out video games based on their content will be struck down.”
Quinn said he is aware of the concerns raised by the video game industry. He argued that he is not trying to suppress video games but merely looking for ways to generate revenue for schools.
