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US politician proposes tax for violent video games

Extra funds would go towards mental health efforts.

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We recently reported on US president Donald Trump saying that violent video games may be shaping the thoughts of young people, and now the saga continues, as Republican member of the Rhode Island State House Robert Nardolillo III has now revealed his plans to raise tax (at a figure of 10%) on violent video games on Facebook, with the money raised then being used for mental health and counseling resources in schools.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, American states don't have the authority to legislate against selling M-rated games to minors, so this new proposal from Nardolillo is hoping to instead provide a different focus, by increasing the tax on said games and then using that for mental health.

Robert Nardolillo III says that "there is evidence that children exposed to violent video games at a young age tend to act more aggressively than those who are not", and although he didn't give any source for this information, according to the US Secret Service (and reported by Glixel), "less than 20 percent of school shooters played violent video games with any amount of regularity". By violent video games, Nardolillo means games rated M or higher by the local rating board ESRB.

Is taxing violent video games a good move given the context surrounding them at the moment?

US politician proposes tax for violent video games


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