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The Right to Gamble
Gambling has joined smoking and drinking as the latest vice under the federal microscope. Congress established the National Gambling Impact Study Commission numerous years ago to "conduct a comprehensive study of the social and economic impacts of gambling in the United States." Congress however seems to have tunnel vision however when it comes to the gaming industry. They base their opinions on the compulsive, pathological gambler instead of the norm, the average Joe gambler.
Gambling is a large industry. Most people game for fun and entertainment. It isn’t the other way around. Everyone should have the right to gamble if they so choose. Why is it the government feels they can dictate what we can spend our hard earned money on. As it is, online gaming has become more and more difficult with banks denying their credit card purchases for online gaming.
The commission does not focus on the entertainment aspect of gambling. They do not show that the average gambler is gaming for entertainment with a few small wagers here and there when they go to a casino or play bingo online. In moderation, it is neither less wholesome nor less rational than other sources of entertainment, such as television, sports, or even dancing for that matter.
The campaign against gambling relies on the addict or the compulsive gambler who has lost his home, family and job. But in fact most casino gamblers do not fall into the above category. A recent industry study found that while the "median age of casino players is similar to that of the U.S. population" (about 48 years), they are more likely to have attended college. Moreover, the average household income of casino players is 28 percent higher than the U.S. average. (Interestingly, state-run lotteries, not private casinos, attract customers who are poorer than average.)
We all understand that there is a problem for some with gambling. We understand, like alcoholism and drug addiction, that gambling can be a serious problem for some, but, compulsive gamblers, like alcoholics and drug addicts, should resort to receiving help in the form of counseling, not controlled by the government. Does the government tell all occasional social drinkers that they cannot use their hard earned money to buy a drink? Does the government dictate to the “average Joe” that he cannot purchase a cup of coffee at the local restaurant because it is harmful to his health? Of course not.
With all the talk about alleged economic and social costs of gambling, we lose sight of the entertainment value of gambling. Some people gamble simply for the entertainment of a night out with friends. Yes, they enjoy the thrill of maybe profiting a buck or two, but, is this in any way shape or form a hazard to their health of the health of our government?
The willingness to take risks has been a necessary part of human advancement. As Nobel laureate F. A. Hayek wrote, Humiliating to human pride as the insight may be, we must recognize that we owe the advance and even the preservation of civilization to a maximum opportunity for accidents to happen. These accidents occur in the combination of knowledge and attitudes, skills and habits acquired by individual men, and also in the confrontation of qualified men with the particular circumstances with which they are equipped to deal. Our necessary ignorance of so much means that we have to deal largely with probabilities and chances. Can you imagine where our world would be today without taking risk?
Now, after viewing this information, do you feel that the government should “baby-sit” our income? Should they be the determining body to control how we spend our money? Should they be able to tell us that we cannot buy a lottery ticket or play a game of bingo because they feel it’s a hazard to our health and welfare of our family?
The latest gaming industry to be targeted has been the online gaming industry. There is now a bill titled Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act' which in short is a law banning all banking instructions from allowing fund transfers to any online gaming industry. This bill was passed on June 10, 2003 and was to go before the Senate sometime later in the year. This has yet to come to pass so you still have time to write to your State Senators and VOICE YOUR OPINION. You will find your state senators address on the internet most commonly under: www.senate.gov and then choose your own state.
Current News
Smoking ban still applies to bingo halls
A Jefferson Circuit Court judge has stuck down a district court order that prohibited the Louisville Metro Health Department from enforcing the city’s old smoking ban in bingo halls.
A district judge had ruled in April that the bingo halls are private clubs and exempt from the ordinance.
But in a Dec. 28 ruling, Jefferson Circuit Judge W. Douglas Kemper ruled that District Judge Sheila Collins exceeded her authority in striking down the ordinance as it relates to bingo halls.
He ruled that state law only allowed her to determine if the Louisville Metro Code Enforcement Board of Appeals acted arbitrarily.
The Jefferson County Attorney’s office only obtained a copy of the Circuit Court order this week.
Kemper effectively ruled that if the bingo halls want to challenge the ordinance, they must file a separate suit in Jefferson Circuit Court.
Kemper remanded the case to district court and ordered the judge to make a finding as to whether the code enforcement board acted arbitrarily.
Whatever the final outcome of the case, it will probably not matter in July, when a new smoking ordinance takes effect that bans smoking in virtually every work place.