Bill on gaming devices advances

A bill that would allow for mostly unfettered trade of antique gambling devices has advanced in the Montana House.

Senate Bill 540, sponsored by state Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, cleared the House Business and Labor Committee on a 12-4 vote Monday and now goes before the full House for consideration.

The bill was prompted by the state Gambling Division's confiscation in January of antique gambling devices from a Whitefish business called the Cowboy Cabin.

The owners of the store, "Cowboy" Ron Turner and his wife, Eila, contended that their antique trade and store should not be regulated by the Gambling Division because it has nothing to do with gambling.

The House committee rejected amendments proposed by the Gambling Division that would have required anybody who trades in antique gambling devices to purchase a $50 license, which would permit them to trade as many antiques as they wished.

Instead, the committee approved Jackson's approach, which allows a person or business to sell - without a license - up to three antique gambling devices (that are at least 25 years old) during a 12-month period.

"The major argument is that these are antiques … and it isn't something that the Gambling Division needs to worry about," Jackson said. "They need to spend their time policing the people involved with gambling."

Gambling Division Administrator Gene Huntington said the amendments requiring licenses for anyone associated with selling gambling devices were intended to provide clarity for enforcement purposes.

"I don't think there's any way for us to enforce how many [devices] people have or how many they have sold over a certain period of time," Huntington said, explaining why the universal licensing with unlimited sales was proposed.

Had the bill been amended to license all Montanans who trade in antique gambling devices, Jackson said, it would have created a new realm of licensing for the Gambling Division that might have required more staffing.

Huntington said he does not intend to pursue the matter further.

"We aren't going to propose any further, I don't think," he said. "It got a fair hearing."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com