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A California state senator who advocated gun control legislation asked for campaign donations in exchange for introducing an undercover FBI agent to an arms trafficker and told him how to get shoulder-fired automatic weapons and missiles.

The allegations against state Sen. Leland Yee were outlined in an FBI affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. The affidavit accuses Yee of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms. He was arrested Wednesday and appeared later in federal court.
CBS
Yee was the author and main sponsor of California’s infamous 2005 law that sought to criminalize the sale of violent video games to children. The law was struck down by numerous courts before finally being overturned for good by the US Supreme Court in 2011 on First Amendment grounds. The failed legislative and legal effort ended up costing California taxpayers $1.8 million in attorney’s fees alone.

Through it all, Yee remained a staunch defender of the idea that the state should aid parents in making violent games harder for children to access. He has given numerous statements over the years to that effect. “Plain and simply, the current rating system is drastically flawed, and here is yet another reason why we need legislation to assist parents and protect children,” Yee told GameIndustry.biz in 2006.

“This is the same technology the armed forces use to help soldiers kill the enemy. All we’re saying is, ‘Don’t sell it to kids,'” he told The San Jose Mercury News in 2008. “When you fight the good fight for a cause you know is right and just, and it’s about protecting kids, you don’t ever regret that,” Yee told The Sacramento Bee in 2012.

Arstechnica

 VGN: Video Games and News

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Spending hours playing violent video games stunts teenagers’ emotional growth, a study has found.

It is thought that regular exposure to violence and lack of contact with the outside world makes it harder for them to tell right from wrong. They also struggle to trust other people, and see the world from their perspective.

Researchers from Brock University in Ontario found that those who spend more than three hours each day in front of the screen are particularly unlikely to have developed the ability to empathise.

It is also thought that teenagers who play games regularly did not spent enough time in the real world to learn to take other’s thoughts into consideration.

Researcher Mirjana Bajovic said: ‘The present results indicate that some adolescents in the violent video game playing group, who spent three or more hours a day playing violent video games, while assumingly detached from the outside world, are deprived of such opportunities.

‘Spending too much time within the virtual world of violence may prevent [gamers] from getting involved in different positive social experiences in real life, and in developing a positive sense of what is right and wrong.’  Read More: Daily Mail

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Louisiana authorities say an 8-year-old boy intentionally shot and killed a 90-year-old woman who was his caregiver after watching a video game with violent themes.

Deputies did not provide a motive, but they said the boy was playing the video game “Grand Theft Auto IV” — a realistic game that’s been associated with encouraging violence and awards points to players for killing people — just minutes before the fatal shooting. The game is rated “M” for mature audiences and recommended for ages 17 and older.

Authorities are calling the shooting a homicide.

“From a behavior therapy perspective, I would say that’s practicing,” Kristopher Kaliebe, a LSU Health Sciences Center child psychologist told Fox8live.com.

“So if you have a video game where someone shoots at a target, that’s sort of practicing shooting at a target. When you havea video game that is shooting at a human being, that is practicing shooting at a human being,” Kaliebe said.

The child was released to his parents Thursday night.

Louisiana law prohibits authorities from charging the child with a crime because of his age, the sheriff’s office said. The law states: “Those who have not reached the age of 10 years are exempt from criminal responsibility.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/24/la-police-boy-8-fatally-shoots-0-year-old-relative-after-playing-video-game/#ixzz2d3FkTQsr

Do Video Games Cause Violence?

Gun Control Crime Statistics:

VGN: Video Games and News

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Parents of young children might find it hard to believe, but playing video games could be good for your eyes.

Just ten hours of gaming for four weeks dramatically improved the vision of young men and women who as babies were almost blind.

After 40 hours of playing a violent video game, they were able to read two extra lines on an eye chart.

The simple but effective treatment was devised by Daphne Maurer, of McMaster University in Canada.

The men and women studied were born with cataracts in both eyes and as babies could see light but not detail.

Although their cataracts were removed, their vision did not return to normal.

When they were aged between 19 and 31, they took part in the study, which involved playing an action game in which they took on the role of a solider shooting the enemy or a gunman firing at aliens.

Some saw improvements in vision after just 10 hours.

After 40 hours, they able to see further down the eye chart, be better at distinguishing the direction of a movement and at telling faces apart.

Source:

Daily Mail: 40 hours of playing violent videos actually IMPROVED the sight of young gamers

NYT: How Video Games could Improve your Vision

LiveScience: Video Games Improve Adult Lazy Eye

LiveScience: Action Video Games Improve Vision

VGN: VideoGamesAndNews

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The gaming industry has come under a lot of fire for the effect of violent games on kids lately, but a Federal Trade Commission secret shopper report released today found minors have a harder time buying an M-rated game than they do a ticket or DVD for an R-rated movie, or music with explicit lyrics.

Source: GamesIndustry – Game Retailers most effective at carding minors

How Easy can Kids buy M-Rated Video Games?

In this commentary, I take a look at the FTC Secret shopper report and discuss violent video games and politics.

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A Representative of Missouri, Republican Diane Franklin of Camdenton, is calling for a sales tax on violent video games following the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. “Violent,” in this instance, really doesn’t mean what you think it does. From the proposed bill: “the term ‘violent video game’ means a video or computer game that has received a rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board of Teen, Mature, or Adult Only”

That means that , if successfully passed, Teen-rated games like The Sims 3, Starcraft 2, EVE Online and Tropico 4 would all be taxed in Missouri on account of how unrepentantly violent they are. Seriously, if my eyes rolled any harder it would cause permanent damage.

If passed, the bill would impose a 1% sales tax to violent games

Sources:

New bill would make ESRB ratings legally binding

Missouri Representative proposes tax on “violent” video games

VGN – Video Games and News

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A small community about 30 miles from the site of the Newtown massacre is organizing a voluntary video game return program, aimed at collecting violent video games from families and likely burning them.

The Violent Video Games Return Program offers up gift certificates in exchange for violent games, music and movies turned in during an event later this month.

The collected items will then be broken and later incinerated by town employees.

Source: Connecticut town holds drive to collect and destroy violent video games: Polygon

VGN VideoGamesAndNews.com

UPDATE – TOWN CANCELS VIDEO GAME BURNING DUE TO BLOWBACK

Town Cancels Video Game Burning: Polygon

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