Guns, drugs and video games – they may not seem related, but some politicians on Capital Hill feel the connection couldn’t be more obvious.

Recently, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., proposed the Video Game Decency Act of 2007. The bill calls for regulations to be placed against video game developers and publishers, and aims to “criminalize any attempt to obtain a less-restrictive age-related rating on a game by failing to disclose a game’s true nature.”

In response to the anti-gaming sentiment being passed around in congress, the last five years have spawned a number of advocacy groups lobbying on behalf of consumers. One such group is the Entertainment Consumers Association, a non-profit membership organization representing computer and video game players.

One of the ECA’s most recent educational efforts includes an ad campaign in the March issue of video game magazine “Tip & Tricks.” Hal Halpin, founder and president of the ECA, explained the significance of their advertisement.

“Our biggest challenge is clearly education of the issues and communicating the importance and weight of them. We engaged an advertising agency that understood and believed in what we’re trying to accomplish and they came up with several campaigns that, I believe, make gamers stop to take notice.” Halpin said.

“The first in the series are the needle, gun, controller ads, which really spell out the problem overtly- anti-games [or] gamer politicians would like to pass laws that make selling and purchasing games akin to alcohol, tobacco and firearms rather than like music and movies.”

On campus, Douglas Gentile, psychology professor, commented on the ECA’s claim regarding politicians’ unfavorable views of video games.

“It would surprise me, if politicians would say that,” Gentile said.

Some students felt there was a broader issue at stake.

“Personally I feel there are a lot of things that are more dangerous than guns and narcotics,” said Caleb Lubka, senior in communication studies.

“I think that it’s a bigger concern within our culture for the family, or members of the home, to talk about [or] make aware the affects that guns and narcotics can have.”

Although no Iowa lawmakers currently have proposed a bill like the Video Game Decency Act of 2007, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said there are other issues surrounding video games that should be addressed.

“We’d prefer to see children running around outside and getting the exercise they need, instead of being inside in front of a television screen playing video games,” said Tom Reynolds, a spokesman for Harkin.

Despite the negative attention video games have been receiving, Gentile said there are some positives in the gaming industry.

“Video games have potential benefits as well as harm – so politicians are right to pay attention to violent video games’ effects on aggression,” Gentile said, “but if that’s all the politicians are focusing on, then we are missing the point that video games can have both positive and negative effects on us.”

Heather Bjornebo, senior in veterinary medicine, related the current issues surrounding video games with previous efforts to censor other media such as television and radio.

“They

are entertainment . fact of the matter is that violence and crime have more to do with societal atmosphere than anything else,” Bjornebo said.