Sen Rockefeller Files Media Violence Bill As Amendment To Gun Control

Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has offered his media violence research bill as an amendment to gun-control legislation currently before the Senate, according to a committee spokesperson.

The amendment mirrors the standalone bill Sen Rockefeller introduced in January in the wake of the Sandy Hook School shootings. If Republicans allow debate on the gun-control bill, there could be an up or down vote on the Rockefeller amendment which directs the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive study of whether violent video games and video programming have a harmful effect on kids, including causing them to be aggressive and causing already aggressive kids to be even more so, as well as whether that harm is distinguishable from the "negative effects" of any other type of media. That suggests the study would have to extend to movies, books and other entertainment. Sen Rockefeller also wants to know whether the negative impact, if there is one, is long-lasting and whether video games have a unique impact due to their interactivity and "the extraordinarily personal and vivid way violence might be portrayed in such video games."