Virginia police official against restoration of the wire act
News on 4 Sep 2014
News on 4 Sep 2014
Kevin Carroll, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Virginia professional association, is the latest influential US personality to object to Adelson-funded political attempts at federal level to ban most forms of online gambling.
In a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Carroll references the Restoration of the American Wire Act proposed to Congress by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah and is critical of the interference in the autonomous rights of individual states.
“Virginia is the birthplace of our nation. America’s Founding Fathers are our Founding Fathers. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Patrick Henry all knew that while the federal government had a strong role to play, so too did each state. There is no stronger example of a highly functioning, model state than the Old Dominion,” Carroll claims in his letter.
“That is why it is so perplexing that any Virginian would allow Congress to step on Virginia’s right to regulate online gaming. As a Virginian and a law enforcement officer, this is a recipe for disaster.”
The Fraternal Order of Police Virginia president points out that his state has more experience than most in efficiently operating and regulating gambling facilities like the state lottery, and there can be no case for federal politicians to remove the right to make decisions on whether or not the state includes internet operations in its activities.
Federal interference in the form of the Chaffetz-Graham bills, he further argues, could deprive Virginia of state revenues and strike at Virginia’s autonomy, forcing players to use more risky overseas sites.
“We need to do everything we can to shut unregulated sites, not give them more opportunities to thrive. Taking online gaming away from the states will do just that,” he concluded.
