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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, "School Shooter: North American Tour 2012" is a
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| 3 | first-person video game developed by Checkerboard Studios that
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| 4 | allows players to assume the roles of the perpetrators of the
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| 5 | campus massacres at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and
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| 6 | Northern Illinois University; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, School Shooter is programmed to provide players | ||||||
| 8 | with
weapons modeled after those used by the perpetrators of | ||||||
| 9 | these
campus massacres and lets the player roam freely through | ||||||
| 10 | school-themed levels, shooting video depictions of people at | ||||||
| 11 | will; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Given that the tragedies that took place at
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| 13 | Columbine and these universities are among the most horrible
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| 14 | acts of campus-based violence in American history, the lack of
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| 15 | empathy within this game for victims, their families, friends,
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| 16 | and other loved ones is upsetting, morally reprehensible, and
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| 17 | disrespectful; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Though other first-person shooter video games are
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| 19 | available for play, the portrayal of campus-based tragedies and
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| 20 | the death of children and young adults as entertainment is
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| 21 | particularly objectionable; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The release of this excessively violent game is
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| 2 | generating concern among educators, school administrators, law
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| 3 | enforcement, and suicide prevention groups; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, It is in the public interest of children and the
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| 5 | citizens of this State to keep School Shooter and other
morally | ||||||
| 6 | reprehensible video games out of the hands of children; | ||||||
| 7 | therefore, be it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 9 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 10 | we wish to alert parents, students, school personnel, and
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| 11 | citizens of the State of Illinois about the release of "School
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| 12 | Shooter: North American Tour 2012"; and be it further
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| 13 | RESOLVED, That we urge the game's
creators and distributors | ||||||
| 14 | to cease production and distribution
of School Shooter; and be | ||||||
| 15 | it further | ||||||
| 16 | RESOLVED, That we strongly
encourage parents, guardians, | ||||||
| 17 | and others to carefully monitor
their children's use of all | ||||||
| 18 | media and encourage that they assist
in controlling the video | ||||||
| 19 | games their children play; and be it
further | ||||||
| 20 | RESOLVED, That we urge retailers to
better monitor and | ||||||
| 21 | police sales and purchases of violent video
games and not to | ||||||
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| 1 | offer School Shooter for sale at their retail
establishments; | ||||||
| 2 | and be it further | ||||||
| 3 | RESOLVED, That we encourage media,
including the print and | ||||||
| 4 | broadcast media, to inform readers and
viewers about the | ||||||
| 5 | release and content of School Shooter; and be
it further | ||||||
| 6 | RESOLVED, That the General Assembly seriously consider the
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| 7 | establishment of a consumer education program on video and
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| 8 | computer games.
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