April 20^th, 2005 (12:00am) - A key committee of the California Assembly on Tuesday backed a bill to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors.

The measure is one of many pending before state legislatures and local councils across the country. Two federal appellate courts have already ruled, however, that such laws violate the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment.

The Assembly’s judiciary committee approved the measure on an 8-0 vote. It will go to the Assembly’s arts committee, where passage is now expected, before going to the full body for a vote. It was not immediately clear how soon that might happen.

The California bill’s sponsor, state assemblyman and child psychologist Leland Yee, held a news conference before the vote to protest industry lobbying efforts and urge passage of the bill.

"These video games teach our children how to kill, how to maim, how to hurt people; women, minorities, poor people. These are not the lessons that we should be teaching our children," Yee said.

Game developers and console makers have said consistently that laws restricting game sales are unnecessary because industry efforts are doing a good job stopping minors from buying "Mature"-rated games.