HB 157, introduced today, is sponsored by Rep. Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton. The bill would impose a one percent tax on any "violent video game" which has been given a rating of "teen," "mature" or "adult only" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. The bill includes an emergency clause to make it go into effect immediately after it is passed.
The money from the tax would go toward mental health for those who are negatively affected by the violent video games.
This is not the first time Rep. Franklin has done her part to file bills designed to help the children of Missouri. During the 2012 session, it was Diane Franklin who realized that what Missouri schoolchildren needed was a healthy dose of trap shooting. Her HCR 43 "encourages every school district and school in Missouri" to promote and include trap shooting as a high school sport."
This serious piece of legislation was co-sponsored by then Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, R-Perryville. It includes the following:
WHEREAS, the sport of trapshooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting and is growing in popularity throughout the United States and Missouri; and
WHEREAS, the trapshooting games were originally meant for the hunters to develop their skills, but these shooting games have obtained international recognition and are encouraged by sports associations; and
WHEREAS, trapshooting is a sport where flying clay targets are fired at with a shot gun. Trapshooting is considered to be an exciting and challenging sport with several million participants; and
WHEREAS, trapshooting has been a sport since at least 1793; and
WHEREAS, Olympic trap is one of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) shooting events, introduced to the Olympic program in 1900; and
WHEREAS, the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) is the primary governing body of American trapshooting and has launched a major initiative to attract more youth shooters; and
WHEREAS, a great deal of coordination and discipline is needed for trapshooting. Trapshooting sports test a player's skill in marksmanship and improve confidence of youth, both male and female, who may not possess the physical attributes to compete in other competitive sports offered at their schools; and
WHEREAS, the goal of any program of youth trapshooting should be to provide instruction and promote firearm safety, personal responsibility, and sportsmanship among primary and secondary students; and
WHEREAS, trap shooting competitions promote tourism in the State of Missouri by bringing in participants and their families from around the country who stay in motels, eat in restaurants, and shop in retail stores, and purchase products from vendors at events; and
WHEREAS, the ATA, the Missouri Trapshooters Association, and other state shooting organizations also award scholarships to college-bound trapshooters based on citizenship, scholarship, and need. Many youth trapshooters are now attending college with the help of those scholarships; and
WHEREAS, our youth should have the opportunity and be encouraged to participate in this extracurricular activity in the same manner as other youth extracurricular activities, such as football, baseball, softball, basketball, track, or band; and
WHEREAS, the boards of education of every Missouri school district and school is encouraged to promote and include trapshooting as a high school sport:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-sixth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby encourage the school boards of every school district and school in the State of Missouri, in conjunction with the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance, to voluntarily promote and include trapshooting as a high school sport for the youth of our state;
Sadly, I don't make these things up.
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