The push for California to ban the sales of violent video games to youngsters has hit the U.S. Supreme Court today, according to ABC News. Currently, there is no law in place that prevents the sale of games to children in the United States, unlike many areas of Europe, some of which go so far as to ban violent games altogether or alter them to remove blood or sexual content.
California is one of the only states that has tried to push a law through. The law, which was adopted back in 2005, has never managed to take effect due to various legal challenges from the Entertainment Software Association, with many believing that it violates constitutional free speech.
It has been argued for many years around the world that violent video games played by children can cause them to become violent natured themselves. Although many people and experts argue that a lot of this stems from the children"s home life and not from the video games themselves. There are millions of gamers who have never become or even thought about becoming violent in their lives.
The law has already been through the Federal Appeals court in 2007 where it was turned down. In that ruling, Judge Ronald Whyte stated that there was no evidence to say that violent games were any more harmful that television or movies.
According to USA Today, even Michael E. Ghallagher, CEO and President of the Entertainment Software Association, said, "The myth that video games cause violent behavior is undermined by scientific research and common sense. According to FBI statistics, youth violence has declined in recent years as computer and video game popularity soared."
The case is Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association and no decision is expected to be made until sometime early next year.