According to The Times Online, Senate has decided to hold off on a proposal that would have resulted in the restriction of sales of adult-rated video games to kids. Apparently, the legislation's sponsors couldn't find a way to write the bill without violating constitutional rights.

The legislation would have imposed fines up to US$ 1,000 if retailers sold or rented video games rated mature to those under 17 or games rated adults only to those younger than 18. Court rulings have struck down previous efforts to restrict game sales.

The Senate voted to send the issue to a study committee. Sen. David Ford, who sponsored the bill, said he hoped the study committee could come up with a bill that could pass a future session of the General Assembly and withstand a legal challenge on constitutional grounds.

There is a proposed measure, which recently passed the Senate subcommittee level, that aims to establish "harsh" punishment for retailers who violate ESRB ratings, reports IndyStar.com. The bill's author, Sen. David C. Ford, explained that his bill makes selling "Mature" or "Adults Only" games to minors a Class B infraction, punishable up to a fine of US$ 1,000. Having passed committee, the bill now moves to the Senate itself for full debate.

The committee vote on Senate Bill 238, which went 5-2 in favor, came after the members were shown clips of "M" rated games (they never said which games) on the flat-panel screen in the Senate chamber, used mainly to display congressional votes. (That in itself, we observe, must have been some change of pace). Sen. Vi Simpson, co-author of Bill 238, said:

You become the character, for better or for worse... If you think (children) are not playing these games because there's an "M" on the box, you're badly mistaken.

Retail and video game industry lobbyists have campaigned against the bill, but Sen. Ford dismissed such complaints, saying that his bill only "enforces" the ratings system. This bill comes in the midst of efforts by the ESRB and video games industry to reinforce "ratings discipline" - enlisting the help of parents to do the same with their kids, and of Senator Brownback's efforts to, in effect, make the ratings board play the whole game before giving it a rating.

Unfazed by the incidents that occurred in Illinois and, most recently, in Utah, North Carolina Senator Julia Boseman proposed a video game bill designed to restrict the access of minors to violent video games.

This move was not a surprise, since before the bill was introduced, political tongues had already been wagging that the Senator was keen on re-introducing video game legislation. She first proposed video game legislation in 2005. The bill passed the Senate, but failed to move in the House.

Senate Bill 87 (SB87), the Boseman-introduced bill, aims to add violent games to an already existing NC stature which defines what materials are harmful to minors. Reading through the filed bill, video game violence is defined in the same terms used to restrict minors' access to porn.

It mentions that video games with graphic violence, which is harmful to minors, should be located in an area not open to view by minors. Video game retailers must also inform their customers about the ESRB ratings. Graphic violence here was defined as:

The realistic visual depiction of serious injury to human beings, actual or virtual, including aggravated assault, decapitation, dismemberment, or death.

The law is also applicable to video arcades. If this is passed, the bill would become a law by the end of the year.