Gambling

1.http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/New-law-allows-county-wide-crack-down-on-game-4931101.php?t=065fb4344c
2. Category of problem: gambling
3. Level of problem: local level
4. The article concerns: 'Game Rooms' in Harris county are going to be even more regulated by the local police
5. Why is this important to individuals/families OR how does it affect individuals/families?
       --Cracking down on 'game rooms' will benefit the people who live or work around them. The new regulations will effect the owners business, which might decline.
6. What are your views on the problem/issue?
       --I personally like to gamble. I have been going to Las Vegas since I was little. I used to dream about turning 21 and being able to participate at the craps table. Gambling should stay at the Craps table, black jack table, or whatever games people like to play in Las Vegas. Gambling should not be in our own back yards. Cracking down on the 'game rooms' is something that should have been done a long time ago. There are too many people that get into a very large debt because of gambling. The pressure that comes along with that could not only be dangerous to the player, but also to the people that are around them.

      The new regulations help determine where game rooms can be located. I think being able to zone them is a good idea. I am happy to hear that someone is enforcing the idea that game rooms need to be far away from schools, playgrounds, residences, neighborhoods, places of religious worship, and anywhere else they could be detrimental and harmfully influential to children. Children are so young and innocent that the probability of watching someone going in and out of a game room could pique their interest. The words “game room” themselves would be enough to entice a child to sneak into one and check the place out.

      "Illegal game rooms are magnets for criminals and robberies because they are "cash rich" environments." The new regulations will hopefully help to decrease problems like these. I feel that most illegal game rooms come out of legal game rooms in the day time. By regulating the legal game rooms, hopefully the “magnetic field” will be counteracted.