TRENTON — A state lawmaker wants to ban violent video games in all public places.

Saying videos games can numb children to violent behavior, state Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) announced that she plans to introduce legislation soon that would prohibit amusement parks, movie theaters, bowling allies, retail stories and other public places from making games rated “mature” or “adults only” available to play.

Offenders could face fines of up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 each time after.

“Children today are exposed to violent images more than ever. Violent video games can desensitize children to violence and give them a warped version of reality where violence and death have no consequences outside their TV screens,” Stender said in a press release.

Stender's announcement comes a day after a task force set up by Gov. Chris Christie to combat violence released a report. One of the group's recommendations was that parents should be required to accompany minors who buy games rates "mature."

Stender said violent video games alone do not cause violent behavior “but they can play a role.”

While some studies have suggested that violent video games may make children slightly more aggressive in the short-term, long-term effects are not clear and none have drawn a link to mass shootings like the December Newtown massacre.

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In a January op-ed in the Hartford Courant, professor Christopher J. Ferguson, chairman of Department of Psychology and Communication at Texas A&M, said research on media violence has been inconclusive and flawed.

“During the past few decades in which video games have become more popular and violent, youth violence declined to 40-year lows,” wrote Ferguson. “Nations that consume more video games per capita than the U.S., such as the Netherlands or South Korea, have much less violent crime than we do. Put, simply, there is no good evidence to link media violence to societal violence, certainly not violent crime.”

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