Grassley: Voluntary ratings for violent video games not enough

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested at a hearing on Wednesday that violent video games can lead to real-world violence.

"There are too many video games that celebrate the mass killing of innocent people — games that despite attempts at industry self-regulation find their way into the hands of children," Grassley said at a Judiciary Committee hearing called to examine the causes of gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry self-regulatory group, already assigns age-based labels to video games, ranging from "C" for early childhood, "E" for everyone, "T" for teen, "M" for mature, and "AO" for adults only, but the system is entirely voluntary.

It is up to retailers to decide whether to sell violent or sexually explicit games to minors.

Grassley pointed to evidence that a mass killer in Norway had played the popular "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" game and had referred to the game as part of his "training simulation."

"Where is the artistic value in shooting innocent civilians?" Grassley asked. 

President Obama and Vice President Biden have called for further studies to examine whether video games can lead people to commit acts of violence. 

"I share Vice President Biden’s disbelief of manufacturer denials that these games have no effect on real-world violence," Grassley said.

Grassley's comments, which came in his opening statement, were some of the only mentions of violent video games during the hearing, which focused mostly on gun control proposals.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre has blamed violent video games for contributing to gun violence in the past, but did not mention the issue in his opening remarks. 

---