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Resident urges Columbia to ban illegal video gambling machines after recent court rulings
Summary
A Columbia resident asked the council to ban illegal slot/video machines in convenience stores and gas stations, citing recent court rulings in other jurisdictions and presenting revenue figures from a federal case. Council later asked legal staff to draft potential enforcement language for an ordinance.
Tyler Travers, a Columbia resident, urged the City Council during scheduled public comment to move quickly to ban illegal slot and video gambling machines he said have proliferated in local gas stations and liquor stores.
"These machines prey upon the most vulnerable among us," Travers said. He told the council that manufacturers have fought local regulation by threatening litigation but that recent court decisions have strengthened municipal leeway. Travers cited a Springfield, Missouri, ordinance that…
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