Every year, the Utah family values lobby and its puppet lawmakers draft bills to deprive kids and young adults of the joys of violent video games, television and movies. And every year those bills get blocked in committee, usually over First Amendment issues.

Now -- just in time for the weekend -- a study, finds that those bloody, hyper-violent flicks might actually decrease violence in young men. "On days with a high audience for violent movies, violent crime is lower,” the researchers found.

What might give this curious study weight with Utah lawmakers is that one of the researchers is Gordon Dahl of the UC San Diego—and he shares their disgust in violent cinema.

The NY Times reports:
"A Mormon, [Dahl] forbids his four children from watching violent films. He recently purchased a DVD player that strips out brutal or sexual images. He eschews violent films himself, professing discomfort even with “Schindler’s List,” the epic portrayal of the Holocaust."

Wow. Is it not high time for Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to sponsor a Hannibal Lector film festival?

The study's scariest finding was that any movie that draws young males to the theaters seems to bring about a small reduction in crime.

“We need more Adam Sandler movies,” Dahl said. “Even though I’m not a big fan of Adam Sandler, that’s the implication.”