Oklahoma’s Will Fourkiller (D) attempted to raise some tax dollars and express his personal disapproval of the state of modern gaming by introducing a bill that would add extra taxes to the sale of video games. A 1% tax on all “violent” video games would be levied by the state. Violent video games would be classified as any title rated Teen, Mature, Or Adult-Only by the ESRB.
The state legislature, however, had a different idea. Citing the recent Supreme Court failure of California’s recent anti-video game legislation, committee leaders were adamant that Fourkiller remove the tax from the budget. In an attempt to compromise, Mr. Fourkiller tried to create a bipartisan task force to investigate the relationship between video games and obesity. This request was denied as well.
This is the latest in a string of good legal news for gamers who want to keep their favorite art form safe from government interference. Also, isn’t Will Fourkiller a great name for a video game protagonist? Nathan Drake, Marcus Fenix, and… Will Fourkiller.
