The shotgun in my hands tells me everything I need to know. I reload anyway and as undead creatures mob me, I ask myself: Does this zombie have substantially human characteristics? And if so, by blowing its torso off, have I committed serious injury in a heinous, cruel or depraved manner?

I think about those criteria and in my hesitation, zombies eat me alive.

Just an afternoon spent killing time between classes. The game room in the University Union has plenty of options for those looking to burn some cash and pent-up aggression. Rail shooters like my choice, “The House of Dead 3,” are flanked by fighting and racing games. The small alcove is an orchestra of explosions, punches and death rattles. One can imagine that it’s all just about enough to make Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco shudder.

Yee, the author of state legislation seeking to regulate video games, is one of many legislators around the nation seeking to address the problem of violent video games. In 2005, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved Yee’s bill to ban the sale of violent video games to minors with content like that found in “The House of the Dead” series. The proposal, struck down by a federal court before it could be put into effect, was revived earlier this month thanks to a judicial appeal from Schwarzenegger.

For a moment, forget the hypocrisy of the Last Action Hero fighting to curb media violence. The fate of this appeal largely seems to rest on supporters’ abilities to convince the court of the effects of violent video games. Naturally, there’s markedly less interest in defending the strength of the law.

It’s the obvious approach though, as the debate over the effect of violent games on minors is pretty persuasive. As many defenders of the ban point out, several clinical studies suggest the impact is very significant. In particular, supporters of the legislation frequently appeal to the research of Craig A. Anderson, a professor of psychology at Iowa State University who has quite literally written the book on the effects of violent video games.

The verbosely-titled “Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy” gathered many of Anderson’s studies which, the author noted, continue in the vein of older media violence research. In short, Anderson found that frequently playing violent video games leads to increases in aggressive behavior and attitudes, especially in men. However, as Anderson pointed out, the problem with video games is not the extent of the gore, but the interactivity of the medium.

“Cartoonish and fantasy violence is often perceived (incorrectly) by parents and public policy makers as safe even for children,” Anderson said in an American Psychological Association article about the myths of violent video games. “However, experimental studies with college students have consistently found increased aggression after exposure to clearly unrealistic and fantasy violent video games.”

According to the legislation’s criteria, “The House of the Dead 3” is a violent video game. Of course, it doesn’t take a set of criteria to realize that. The grotesque cavalry of creatures on the screen and the effect of a light-gun shot to necrotized flesh is evidence enough. But if studies like Anderson’s and others are correct, then the legislation’s criteria isn’t nearly broad enough. Criteria that address Schwarzenegger’s public health concerns would strike down everything from the notorious “Grand Theft Auto” series to the equally popular, but comparably kosher “Super Smash Bros.” series.

It’s nearly impossible to create bans that are broad enough to tackle public health concerns, at least without throwing video games completely out the window. In any case, the popularity of violent video games seems less like a root problem than a symptom of the overarching mores of a generation. Like Anderson said, “Media violence is only one of many factors that contribute to societal violence and is certainly not the most important one.”

However, until government officials like Yee and Schwarzenegger realize that, moves against violent video games will be harder to kill than any undead army invented.

Paul Rios can be reached at [email protected].