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Jack Thompson, an anti-game crusader, has announced that he will be drafting video game legislation for the state of Florida.
“Miami attorney Jack Thompson, a leading activist against the video game industry, has today been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill that will prhibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors,” a press release issued by Thompson stated.
In addition to this being news to us, it also seems it was news to the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida. A representative of Jeb Bush’s office has stated Thompson’s declaration is untrue, although Thompson did approach Bush’s policy advisors with the offer.
“Our Policy Office told him that the Governor does not use the bully pulpit to target individual industries,” Russell Schweiss, Deputy Press Secretary for Governor Bush, told Game Politics. He also commented that Thompson was told if he wanted to pursue the legislation, he could attempt to gain the support of a local representative who could then attempt to pass the bill through the normal legislative process.
Thompson also stated, “The Office of Governor Bush has told Thompson that the Governor will sign such a bill if it is placed before him.”
Yet, Schweiss stated that Bush would not sign legislation before it had undergone a thorough review.
And let us all be thankful that Jack Thompson is not writing our video game legislation or who knows what would happen to gamers.