Representatives from the House proposed a new bill that would force retailers to check official identification from anyone purchasing video game titles rated “M” or “AO”. Representatives Jim Matheson and Lee Terry introduced a bill this week pushing for government regulation, just as the Federal Trade Commission released a report that found retail stores selling violent video games to children despite pressure for stores to check identification.

Matheson and Lee’s bill would include requirement of identification checks and stores to post explanations of what the ratings mean. Stores found violating the law would be fined $5,000 per violation by the FTC.

"Many young children are walking into stores and are able to buy or rent these games without their parents even knowing about it. Many retailers have tried to develop voluntary policies to make sure mature games do not end up in the hands of young kids, but we need to do more to protect our children," said Terry. Some stores currently already attempt to enforce age verification before game purchases. Best Buy for example, recently pressured its retail stores to check identification during the first week Grand Theft Auto 4 was launched. Wal-mart appears to already have ESRB ratings posted at their stores and has programmed its cash registers to automatically prompt for identification checks.

Illinois and Louisiana have attempted in the past to enact similar laws, but faced fierce opposition and were struck down as being unconstitutional. It appears Terry and Matheson would like to try their luck again on a nation-wide level.

"As a parent, I know that I’m the first line of defense against my kids playing Mature-rated video games," Matheson said in a statement. "But parents can’t be everywhere monitoring everything and some reasonable, common sense rules ought to be in place to back parents up."