Should Online Gambling Be Banned? [POLL]

Governor Rick Perry has come out in favor of banning online gambling. Perry has joined with other Republicans including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Senator Lindsey Graham in pushing for the ban. According to POLITICO, Perry says that allowing online gambling would prevent states from regulating what activities their citizens can participate in.

The two governors use near-identical language at times to pan the “flawed” reasoning of DOJ and call for Congress to restore the previous interpretation of the Wire Act. Both Perry and Haley argue that the current legal interpretation could infringe on the rights of states to enforce their own gambling laws.

“When gambling occurs in the virtual world, the ability of states to determine whether the activity should be available to its citizens and under what conditions - and to control the activity accordingly - is left subject to the vagaries of the technological marketplace. This seriously compromises the ability of states to control gambling within their borders,” Perry wrote.

The letters were sent Monday to House and Senate leadership as well as the top Judiciary Committee lawmakers in Congress.

The missives from the two powerful and well-known state executives boosts legislation banning Internet gambling from Graham and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). The letters are also a boon to casino magnate and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson, who has formed a coalition calling for the ban.

“Internet gambling is a bad idea, hard to regulate. If you want to gamble, go to a licensed facility. I don’t like the idea of sitting in one’s basement and trying to regulate gambling because I think it’s just very subject to abuse,” Graham said in a brief interview Monday. “South Carolina is not big into Internet gambling.

Haley and Perry echoed Graham’s motivations for reversing the DOJ’s interpretation and also raised moral concerns about the effect that online gambling could have if it is allowed to spread.

Do you agree with Rick Perry on calling for a ban against online gambling? Let us know in today's KFYO Poll of the Day.