Michigan- A federal judge issued a injunction to stop a Michigan law that bans retailers from selling or renting violent video games to minors.

The reason for the injunction, U.S. District Judge George Steech wants to stop the Michigan law that bars retailers from selling or renting video games to minors, until a lawsuit filed by the gaming industry is resolved.

The ESA (Entertainment Software Association), Video Software Dealers Association and Michigan Retailers Association, trade groups representing U.S. computer and video game publishers, filed the suit in September, charging that the law is unconstitutionally vague and limits residents’ First Amendment rights.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the law in September, and it was scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. The lawsuit names Granholm, state Attorney General Mike Cox and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy as defendants.

In his order, U.S. District Judge George Steeh said the defendants are not likely to win the case,and the “loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.”

The gaming industry also has filed lawsuits to block similar laws in California and Illinois. Federal courts have struck down video game restrictions approved by Washington state, Indianapolis and St. Louis County in Missouri, saying they encroached on the First Amendment.

The state laws were passed after hidden sex scenes were discovered in a popular game, “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” Public complaints also spurred a Federal Trade Commission investigation and a new rating for the “San Andreas” game from “M” for mature to “AO” for adults only.

Granholm also has signed bills aimed at keeping adult-rated games with sexually explicit material away from children, but attorneys for the gaming industry are not contesting those laws.