Oklahoma's Proposed Violent Video Game Tax Rejected
No 'Violent Game Tax' for the gamers of Oklahoma.
A proposed bill that would see a 1 percent surtax placed on violent video games sold in Oklahoma has been defeated. Proposed by House Rep William Fourkiller, the new bill, HB 2696, would mean purchases of games rated Teen, Mature, and Adult Only by the ESRB would be subject to an extra 1 percent tax on top of the current price tag. Money generated from this 'Violent Game Tax' would have gone towards Oklahoma's Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund to fight obesity and the the Bullying Prevention Revolving Fund. However, according to minutes recorded and published by the Oklahoma Watchdog, the The Oklahoma House Revenue and Tax Subcommittee, the proposal has been rejected.
"Why [tax] just video games? Why not French fries or rap music or movies?" representative Pat Ownbey is quoted as saying. Another, representative,
Mr. Fourkiller last month claimed that he was inspired to write the bill based on first-hand experience on how video games can lead to obesity and bullying. "A gentleman shot a police officer and stole his car," he told Oklahoma City's KFOR-TV, referring to a recent incident. "He had been playing Grand Theft Auto." He later admitted that not everyone reacts the same way to video games. "I believe after hours and hours of watching the screen, playing the video game, being that person and taking on that role, people get desensitized."
When it was proposed, the bill was met with a largely negative response. Many of our own readers suggested that if there was to be a tax on mature video games, there should also be a tax on violent movies, TV shows, and music.
- Microsoft Accuses Google, Motorola of Patent Misuse in Europe
- Immersion Sues Motorola Over Haptic Feedback Patent
- Report: Mozilla to Introduce First Mozilla Phone by LG at MWC
- Will The Future of Mental Health Treatment Be Online?
- Samsung Galaxy B Will Have Edge-to-Edge Display
- Microsoft Launches 'Smoked by Windows Phone' Campaign
- Here's How to Get a Free iPhone 4S 16GB at Target
- 7-inch Google Nexus Tablet In Production This April?
- T-Mobile Reveals "Reinvigorated Challenger Strategy" for LTE
- Google Planning to Offer 'Smart Glasses' By End Of 2012
- Make A Wish Makes Drivable R2D2 for Leukemia Patient
- Samsung Introduces Stylish Branded SD Memory Cards
- Asus Intros Transformer Pad Infinity Tablet Line, More
- Facebook Accused of Reading Text Messages via App
- US to Get Dual-core Version of HTC's First Quad-core Phone
- Android 5.0 May Arrive This Fall, Hints Google
- Report: iPad 3 Shipments on The Way to the U.S.
- Sony Introduces Xperia P and Xperia U Android Phones
- Nokia Was the Largest Windows Phone Vendor in Q4 2011
Exactly.
Glad to see it was shot down.
"I believe after hours and hours of watching the screen, playing the video game, being that person and taking on that role, people get desensitized."
It's like saying that after watching "Die Hard" too many times can lead you to gun down a terrorist organization on christmas day.
I support a tax on rap music. And dubstep. Mostly dubstep.
The stinking republicans have 2/3 supermajorities in both houses of the the legislature in this state and this democrat is making a laughingstock of himself. We're on the highway to destruction in Oklahoma and this idiot is standing on the accelerator.
Have you ever seen a violent French fry?
They look like one giant middle finger telling you "Bite me!".
So I did.
Rejected!!!!!! Kendrick Perkins was like yo politicians get that sh*t out of here been posterized once too many this year!!!!!
I want a tax on churches and other religious institutions. Some of them are sour apples (hello, Fred Phelps), which could lead to negative events (such as protesting military funerals and nearly causing a riot thereby), so they should ALL BE PUNISHED1!one11!!!!!1!two!
People are extremely stupid, generally speaking, and should be thoroughly screened for intellectual prowess and ability to establish causality before being allowed into any government.
Taxe fried good... it will be more efficient.
People are affected by games? Really? Apart from making me a special forces standard soldier, confirming my suspicions that I'm a world leading driver and that I'm an all round BAMF, I'm not affected at all!
Oh....
I support a tax on rap music. And dubstep. Mostly dubstep.
Dubstep isn't bad, it's this 'brostep' that's the problem (the mass produced, ZOMGbandwagonGETONQUICK stuff that isn't actually dubstep but clings to the name).
This attitude towards 'new' music is also quite funny, I asked my grandparents a while back about their views on music (40-50's, big band type music), they thought rock and roll was bad (pretty much anything made after the 50's sucks in their opinion). My parents are on similar lines, 60-80's is their stuff. My personal views are if I like it I'll listen to it.
Someone should tax Fourkiller because of his last name.
Good. The First Amendment exists for a reason; this is one of them- you can't put a tax on specific words or ideas I can express.
And... @blubbey...
"Rock and roll is stupid." I present to you Exhibit B(ird); which would probably cause anyone used to big band stuff to hate rock n' roll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZThquH5t0ow
This issue has been fairly controversial in behavioral research (along with violent television viewing). The research has gone back and forth, but the best studies, last I heard, did indicate an effect of violent media exposure (so not specifically video games) on aggressive behavior later in life. This was in longitudinal research after controlling for other variables such as parent history of aggression, child's prior history of disruptive behavior, SES, etc. So, using anecdotal data like the representative reportedly did is, of course, not a sound way to make policy decisions (wouldn't it be nice if politicians were required to learn the basics of science and technology [and ethics] before being eligible to "serve"?), but there is some scientific basis for the concern.
"A gentleman shot a police officer and stole his car... He had been playing Grand Theft Auto."
I believe after watching the Matrix countless number of times I should be able to dodge bullets now...
Or
I watch sports every day, I donno why I am still out of shape...
Maybe not the best analogies, but each one of these statements ignores the underlying problem.
No, this man is not a gentleman because of the nature of the crimes he committed. He most likely is scum or has serious mental health issues or a combination of both.
you shall not tax on the new Aborted album
Can we tax justin beiber for making my ears bleed?
Yeah, and let's tax violent books, too....like the bible!
Tax all vices, like they already do on some ...
I've always said they're (in some cases, just attempting) taxing the wrong thing. This was one of them.
What they SHOULD have done, is allow any age to purchase any video game. However, if the buyer (not the parent of the gamer) isn't age appropriate, tax them. This may force the parent to become more involve in questioning its content. Of course, even though all men are created equal, not all men have the same brains.
who in the fuck had the idea to impose a violent game tax....the freaking, idiotic politicians....when are they going to stop?
This attitude towards 'new' music is also quite funny, I asked my grandparents a while back about their views on music (40-50's, big band type music), they thought rock and roll was bad (pretty much anything made after the 50's sucks in their opinion). My parents are on similar lines, 60-80's is their stuff. My personal views are if I like it I'll listen to it.
You know, it's kind of weird, even though i was born in the early 90's, i don't really like the music of our generation...very little "music", too much "product". Like the video game industry.
I think it'd be appropriate to quote Clawfinger (swedish band) here.
"if you want to ban a violent show then ban the news"
Great news, if this senseless tax passed it would only have been a matter of time before the 1% jumped to a higher number and other states would eventually adopt it too. Now that Oklahoma has rejected Mr. Fourkiller's bill may I suggest the people reject Mr.Fourkiller for his next reelection?
Enough said.
This was never about trying to deter the sale of "violent" video games, 1 percent is a drop in the bucket. It's not the kids that would have had to pat it anyway, last time I checked a kid's allowance originates from the parents - which in a roundabout way would have bought it and footed the one percent. This was disguised as purely extra "funding" for the state.
This is pretty stupid. What would follow? A violent movie tax? Violent TV show tax? Violent advertising tax? An MMA tax? A WWE tax? An NFL tax? An NHL tax? Saturday night boxing on HBO tax? Karate lesson tax? News stories about attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan tax? on and on...
People still think and make choices. Some make bad ones. Most do not.
There are bad parents out there, but most don't produce violent members of society. This is independent of violent video games, movies, or other forms of entertainment.
With regard to studies looking into this, there are results on both sides of the fence. It all depends on how you set up your experiments and define your measurements. Because of that, anyone can generally find a correlation with just about anything if they set the experiments up correctly.
Too bad the representative doesn't understand the difference between a game and reality.
I am neither pro -nor anti- violent game; I don't play 'em.
But taxing ONLY games, but not (c)rap music telling you to shoot, kill and otherwise inconvenience your counterparts, and NOT including violent movies seems simply unfair.
And while we are at it, why not tax Spicy Foods, Sexy Clothes and .... oh, the hell with it, let's get rid of the First amendment while we are at it :-)
if they would make more violent/adult type games that didn't have to be politically correct, i would pay more tax or money for them. sick of kiddie games. Hell even GTA has to be censored so you can buy it @ wall mart. Its a GAME and if it has violence don't let your kids play it.
I didn't let my son play mature games until he was 16. that was my choice. I didn't tell the government or game companies to censor the games, i just didn't let my son play them.
It's called being responsible for your actions.
We do not need a nanny state!
The stinking republicans have 2/3 supermajorities in both houses of the the legislature in this state and this democrat is making a laughingstock of himself. We're on the highway to destruction in Oklahoma and this idiot is standing on the accelerator.
So you should thank the stinking republicans for shooting down this absurd law. Maybe this law would have passed if the stupid democrats controled the state house.
Stupid democrats control California's legislature. Take a look at that disaster.
I need to say this, I'm 34, and have been playing violent video games since I was a kid, and I have no criminal record what so ever...
My question is, what is the difference between a violent video game, a violent movie, or violent music? Absolutely nothing. If you do violent things, and blame it on a game, or a movie, or whatever, it's because you had violent tendencies before hand, and are just using whatever form of media as a scape goat. I say if they murder someone or do something bad, and blame it on a game, give them the maximum sentence.. Cuz the most violent psychopaths, are the ones who don't admit to there crimes, because they don't care about getting help, or getting better, they just want to hurt people (or animals).. And if you give them a small sentence, they are just gonna go out and do it again.
My opinion anyways..
I need to say this, I'm 34, and have been playing violent video games since I was a kid, and I have no criminal record what so ever...My question is, what is the difference between a violent video game, a violent movie, or violent music? Absolutely nothing. If you do violent things, and blame it on a game, or a movie, or whatever, it's because you had violent tendencies before hand, and are just using whatever form of media as a scape goat. I say if they murder someone or do something bad, and blame it on a game, give them the maximum sentence.. Cuz the most violent psychopaths, are the ones who don't admit to there crimes, because they don't care about getting help, or getting better, they just want to hurt people (or animals).. And if you give them a small sentence, they are just gonna go out and do it again. My opinion anyways..
its the same thing with the war on trans-fats. Don't make people responsible for their actions, i.e. put down the fork or you will get fat and possibly have health problems and we should not have to pay for your inability to control your eating. No why would do that when we can just create legislation to restrict exposure.
nanny state