As violence and crime continue to surge in Chicago, politicians and lawmakers are trying to determine the cause of the increase. In the wake of COVID lockdowns and the defunding of police, one lawmaker thinks they have an explanation for the dramatic increase that has transpired. According to Democrat State Representative Marcus Evans the cause is Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto for the increased carjackings happening around the Chicago area.
In 2020, more than 1,400 carjackings were reported in Chicago doubling 2019’s numbers and is the highest the city has seen since 2001. The majority of these crimes, according to the CPD, are being committed by 15-20 year-olds with even some of the suspects being as young as 12 years old.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times Evans, who has introduced House Bill 3531 which would ban the sale of the game in the state of Illinois, claimed,
“Grand Theft Auto, which had its first installment released in 1997, is the main issue…Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games are getting in the minds of our young people and perpetuating the normalcy of carjacking. Carjacking is not normal and carjacking must stop.”
House Bill 3531 will amend the existing Violent Video Games Law of the Criminal Code of 2012 which prohibits the sale of violent games to minors. Offenders will be fined $1,000 according to one of the proposed changes. Other changes include modifying the definition of “violent video game” to mean “a video game that allows a user or player to control a character within the video game that is encouraged to perpetuate human-on-human violence in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or animal.”
The bill expands upon the phrase “serious physical or psychological harm” to include depictions of death, dismemberment, amputation, decapitation, maiming, disfigurement, mutilation of body parts, child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse, domestic violence, violence against women, rape, motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present inside the vehicle when the theft begins.”
Voicing support for this bill, community business owner and activist Early Walker, who has been praised by Evans for an initiative that involves security teams patrolling gas stations, said, “Representative Evans and I have researched and concluded that these very young offenders of carjacking are greatly influenced by the Grand Theft Auto video game. I truly believe that there is bipartisan support to ban this game from being sold in Illinois.”
Neither Evans or Walker have cited any studies or research to substantiate their claims that the GTA franchise, or violent games in general, have affected kids to commit crimes.
Author’s Note: Check back soon for a follow-up editorial to this news story.
[…] Arguments, I must add, that were made mostly by Democrats in the 90s, 00s, 10s, and even more recently in 2021 by Democrats. […]