Online Gambling is a Right

New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada recently legalized online gambling, thanks to a Justice Department ruling that allows it. But a proposed federal bill sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham and Dianne Feinstein aims to reverse that ruling, effectively banning online gambling nationwide. The bill  "would reimpose a long-standing interpretation of the federal Wire Act that held betting over the internet violated the law."

Las Vegas casino operator Sheldon Adelson, an outspoken backer of a federal ban, claims that online gambling "will harm the young, the poor and the elderly by bringing betting into the home." In a New Jersey Star-Ledger letter, Patricia Davenport Bono, echoing Adelson, agreed.

I left these comments:

". . . online betting will hurt the young, poor and elderly"

Pat, what you really mean is the irresponsible young, poor, and elderly. Well, what about responsible young, poor, and elderly—and all other adults?

Adults have a fundamental right to do with their money as they please, so long as they don't violate the rights of others. One person's gambling violates no one's rights. The fact that some people may gamble unwisely in no way justifies banning it. Doing so amounts to sacrificing the responsible to the irresponsible, a morally inverted undertaking.

Online gambling should be legal for all consenting adults, as a matter of fundamental right.

Related Reading:

Senators Seek to Ban Online Gambling