N.C. gambling arrives by accident

N.C. gambling arrives by accident
The Virginian-Pilot

Those quaint produce stands lining the drive through Currituck County to the beach may soon be outnumbered by Internet sweepstakes parlors - if they aren't already.

Although the North Carolina legislature banned the video games in an amendment to an existing law against gambling two years ago, they're alive and thriving on N.C. 168 in Moyock and beyond.

Shortly after the ban was approved, sweepstakes operators and software providers challenged it. This month, a divided state Court of Appeals sided with the industry, contending the law is too broadly drawn.

Since then, more parlors have opened in Currituck, joining others that have been in operation during the court challenge.

The parlors work like this: Players purchase Internet or phone time to click through computer screens to see if they've won a cash prize. The game operators contend it's not gambling because the results are determined before the players sit down at the screen.

As The Pilot's Jeff Hampton recently reported, Currituck officials have issued citations to sweepstakes parlors for zoning violations. Those citations are also being challenged, and sweepstakes operators have asked the County Commission to allow the games.

Two years ago, Elizabeth City approved a similar change that imposes taxes on each sweepstakes machine. Three parlors have been operating there, generating revenues of approximately $62,000 a year, according to officials.

But both localities have more to lose than gain from these establishments.

And North Carolina has much to lose if it can't find a way to regulate an industry that seems to operate in the small space created by loopholes and technicalities. In Portsmouth, for example, gambling threatened to overrun the city before officials stepped in.

Gambling is an industry that shouldn't happen by accident or because laws are insufficiently precise.

Elizabeth City is striving to revitalize its historic downtown, and sweepstakes parlors - even on the outskirts of downtown - don't project an inviting image to visitors or prospective businesses. The same is true for Currituck, which relies heavily on its family-friendly tourism image.

Proponents of sweepstakes parlors contend they're good for the economy, but there's substantial evidence that gambling, even in its simplest forms, isn't an innocuous pastime. It diverts money that would be spent on real goods and services, and money disproportionately comes from people who can least afford to part with it.

Virginia successfully shut down these games last year. If North Carolina's high court doesn't uphold the ban, lawmakers in Raleigh need to try again. The state has a history of corruption related to video gambling, and it shouldn't run the risk of more.

The North Carolina Sheriffs Association and the Association of Chiefs of Police oppose the games. Those warnings sound like winning advice for local and state officials.