You can take away our freedom to use assault rifles on innocent civilians, but you cannot take away our right to do the same in Grand Theft Auto IV.

That is the gist of a Supreme Court ruling handed down on Monday, which struck down a California law that would have banned violent video games from being distributed to minors. In this first ever case revolving around video games, the Court ruled the ban would violate the free-speech rights of video game retailers and gamers alike.

Justice Antonin Scalia, in writing the majority opinion, said, “Our cases hold that minors are entitled to a significant degree of First Amendment protection.” The Court ruled that video games are a form of art, just like books, movies, comics, etc. Therefore, they deserve the same First Amendment protection granted to those other art forms. Scalia goes on to point out that stories have contained gruesome, violent images since the beginning of time. He cites Grimm’s Fairy Tales and The Odyssey as perfect examples of violence that are a regular part of childrens’ education. I am glad to see the Supreme Court strike down this ridiculous law. While my own video game days are a thing of the past, I still appreciate the entertainment value found in this modern, interactive form of storytelling. Action-adventure stories have existed throughout human history, and it is awfully hard to tell such stories without depicting violence. Similarly, throughout human history, there have existed children who face possible moral corruption at the hands of violent stories. While the method of telling violent stories has evolved, video games are no more corrupting to youth than older methods. Studies examined during the case showed that children exposed to violent video games did display higher levels of aggression, but the same was true for children who spent time watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. That is right, beloved cartoon icon Bugs Bunny is corrupting our children. I guess we should not be surprised, when he is not getting Elmer Fudd to shoot Daffy Duck in the face with a shotgun he is wearing dresses and makeup. No way children should be allowed anywhere near a murderous transvestite rabbit.

If you are going to ban the sale of violent video games, you have to start banning other violent forms of storytelling; but that is something the Supreme Court has rejected in the past. Censorship of obscenity and sexual conduct in art has been upheld, but violence is considered too nebulous by the Court to be banned in the broad way outlined by the California law.

The bottom line, as it always is in cases like these, is that parents need to accept responsibility for the actions of their children. No parent should be buying Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty for their child unless they are sure their child can handle it and can differentiate between reality and video games. That is why we tend to start children off easy. We show them Looney Tunes or read them Grimm’s Fairy Tales first. Talking animals and mythical beasts doing harm is easier to accept as fake than the realistic humans depicted in modern video games. Once a parent is sure of the child’s mental cognizance to differentiate, the parent can start introducing the child to more complex, sophisticated and even violent content for entertainment.

I have personal experience with this. I have watched and helped my younger sisters graduate from SpongeBob Squarepants cartoons to the books and films of Harry Potter and (shudder) Twilight. Even I have yet to find the courage to risk the latter series, but that might have more to do with the fact that I have good taste.

Common sense dictates parents should be able to control their own children and that government has no need to slap penalties onto companies for attempting to make a profit through storytelling meant for mature, responsible adults. Unfortunately, common sense is not all that common, which is why we see the Supreme Court having to decide cases like this one.

For now, avid gamers can relax and know that Big Brother will not be taking away our access to virtual worlds where you can kill prostitutes with a baseball bat, rip the heads off monsters and head-shot a terrorist with a sniper rifle. Game over.