Ban Grand Theft Auto To Stop Carjackings, State Lawmaker Says

ILLINOIS — With carjackings on the rise across Chicagoland — police reported more than 1,400 last year in Chicago alone, and 2021 is already on pace to exceed that number — one Illinois lawmaker has a solution. It doesn't include cracking down on so-called "chop shops," changing police tactics, addressing technology that allows cars to be more easily stolen, educating drivers in how to stay safe, or tackling the types of concentrated poverty that are heavily correlated with crime.

State Rep. Marcus Evans, a South Side Democrat, wants to ban a video game.

Specifically, Evans has set his sights on Grand Theft Auto. First released in 1997, the action-adventure series features stories involving mobsters, heists and mayhem, and is geared toward an adult audience.

"Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games are getting in the minds of our young people and perpetuating the normalcy of carjacking," Evans said at a news conference in Olympia Fields on Monday, according to ABC 7. "Carjacking is not normal and carjacking must stop."

He plans to introduce a bill banning the game — the last installment of which came out nearly a decade ago.

Community activist Early Walker, who also spoke at the news conference, said he agreed with Evans' assessment. Walker is behind "Operation Safe Pump," a security program that stations guards at gas stations and other carjacking hot spots.

"Representative Evans and I have researched and concluded that these very young offenders of carjacking are greatly influenced by the Grand Theft Auto video game," Walker said, according to ABC 7. "I truly believe that there is bipartisan support in Springfield to ban this game from being sold in Illinois."

Multiple studies have found no evidence that violent video games lead to violent behavior or crime, though they have drawn the ire of politicians for decades.

A 2019 Illinois State University study published in the journal Psychological Science found no evidence that violent video games increase players' aggression toward others.

Likewise, a meta-analysis of 28 video game studies published since 2008 found "a minuscule positive correlation between gaming and aggression, below the threshold required to count as even a 'small effect,'" according to a report last year in the Guardian.

“Violence is a complex social problem that likely stems from many factors that warrant attention from researchers, policymakers and the public,” said American Psychological Association President Sandra L. Shullman in a2020 statement reaffirming the APA's stance on the issue. “Attributing violence to video gaming is not scientifically sound and draws attention away from other factors, such as a history of violence, which we know from the research is a major predictor of future violence.”

Evans said he plans to seek an amendment to a 2012 law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. His proposed change would ban the sale of video games depicting "human-on-human violence," "psychological harm" or "motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present" to anyone, regardless of age, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Such a law would almost certainly run afoul of the First Amendment.