Menino backs bill to keep violent video games away from children

BOSTON—Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is backing an effort to ban the sale of violent video games to minors.

A bill co-sponsored by state Rep. Christine Canavan is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. While video games are subject to a voluntary rating system, only those with strong sexual content are off-limits to minors.

Menino's chief of human services, Larry Mayes, told the Boston Herald the mayor does not believe violent games should be sold to children under 17. But he conceded achieving a ban will be an "uphill battle."

A federal appeals court in Minnesota upheld an injunction Monday against a law in that state that would have kept children under 17 from renting or buying violent video games.

The judges wrote that the state didn't have enough proof that violent video games cause psychological harm.

Information from: Boston Herald, http://www.bostonherald.com