In the wake of Russia's first school shooting on Monday, a bill has been submitted to the State Duma proposing restrictions on the sale of violent video games.
A Just Russia deputy Oleg Mikheyev brought the bill to the legislature the day after a gunman killed a teacher and a police officer at a school in northeast Moscow, Interfax reported Tuesday.
Mikheyev said that some video games create a "cult of violence," particularly singling out first person shooters, where players view the video game world through the eyes of a man with a gun.
"These 'shooters' are in fact a manual for teens on how to destroy the adversaries by any means, teaching how to shoot and aim at enemies," the deputy said.
Preliminary reports suggest that Monday's school shooter, Sergei Gordeyev, is about 15 years old and may have carried out the attack as revenge against his geography teacher, an unidentified law enforcement told Interfax.
Gordeyev, who is now in police custody, will undergo a psychiatric evaluation while investigators continue to work on piecing together a motive for the attack.
In his statement, Mikheyev said violent video games "crippled the psyches of children" and added that recent violent attacks at a synagogue and office were also influenced by the popular form of teenage entertainment.
The measures increasing restrictions on selling violent video games are proposed as amendments to the law on protection of the health and development of children, and come after the head of the Duma's Security and Anti-Corruption Committee, Irina Yarovaya, on Monday proposed tighter gun possession restrictions in response to the attack.
On Tuesday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the relatives of the killed teacher and police officer would receive 5 million rubles ($142,000) and that the relatives of another injured police officer would receive 2 million rubles, RIA Novosti reported.
Three criminal cases have been opened in connection with the shooting: murder, hostage-taking and making an attempt on the life of a police officer.
Classes at the school, No. 263, will resume on Wednesday. On Tuesday younger students were sent on a field trip and older students went to classes at a nearby school, RBC Daily reported.
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