March 15, 2006
March 15, 2006
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm last week called on retailers across Michigan to support a national boycott of the video game “25 to Life” by not selling the game in their stores. In a letter to the retailers, Granholm said taking the game off store shelves is a critical step in the fight to keep inappropriate and dangerous forms of entertainment out of the hands of our children.
“Taking this game off your shelves is not only the best way to ensure that it does not end up in the hands of children, it also sends a message of support to our law enforcement community that we will not support those who would profit from the production and sale of such games, no matter what the intended audience,” Granholm wrote.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) is circulating a nationwide petition urging the public to boycott “25 to Life.” The NLEOMF petition campaign calls on parents and caregivers to keep children away from the game, which gives players points for killing law enforcement officers and also encourages them to use bystanders as human shields. The game’s maker, California-based Eidos Interactive USA, began distributing the game in January.
In September of last year, Granholm signed a package of bills into law that made illegal the sale or rental of mature or adult-rated video games to children. The bills, which Granholm called for in her 2005 State of the State Address, were passed following a series of independent investigations that found that Michigan children as young as nine were able to purchase adult-rated video games (M for Mature or NC-17) across the state.
Granholm made this request to retailers to remove “25 to Life” from their shelves to ensure it is not sold to children while the current laws regarding the sale of mature or adult-rated video games to children is resolved in the courts.
