Frank Branham: Rant 24 Bars and games
The closest town to our house is Lilburn, GA. Recently, the city council has decided to ban interactive entertainment in bars. No Karaoke, bar trivia, darts, pool, or card games. They have decided to alter the law to allow arcade machines and state-owned lottery machines. So you can gamble as long as it isn't with other people.The intent is to destroy all of the bars. Lilburn doesn't actually have bars—instead it has restaurants that make at least 50% of the sales through food, but are allowed to sell alcohol.
Lilburn can't manage to police their restaurant law, so they decided to outlaw fun instead. The push to outlaw bars is so very unnerving. The tradition of taverns is old, and they were essential as places to socialize. Bar games are just as old, and we still see variants on iconic tavern games being played today. Mostly, the crowds that hang out in bars are a lot like an established gaming group. Regular people show up, meet, and do their weird karaoke thing.
So Lilburn has pretty much destroyed these little social groups—or at least disrupted and displaced them.
Alcohol and gaming (even our sort) doesn't seem to get along in the US. A few Europeans who come over for various conventions are a bit confused by the lack of booze at American cons. Even when alcohol isn't banned outright, you don't see any in the gaming areas.
Compare that to fandom cons. Dragoncon definitely allows alcohol, and pretty much becomes one giant overlapping drunken party during the evenings. The only particularly drunken person I've ever seen at a boardgaming con was happily playing Tichu. Even then, I'm not so sure he was very drunk as he is pretty loud in normal circumstances.
But imagine a gaming con if you took away the games but left the alcohol. You'd need lots of alcohol. What Lilburn hasn't quite worked out is that people are going to the bars for the games, and the alcohol is how the bar actually makes money.
© 2007 Frank Branham
Posted by Frank Branham on Mar 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM in Columnists, Frank Branham / 1009
Comments:
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Wait a minute… Are you accusing me of being loud in normal circumstances? D Posted by Dale Yu on Mar 22, 2007 at 06:46 AM | #
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Nope. You don’t compare to Derk. Posted by Frank Branham on Mar 22, 2007 at 07:01 AM | #
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Frank, That’s pretty wild. What prompted this move by the city council? Where there incidents that spurred them to react this way, or was this done on a whim? They’re elected officials, who I imagine (unless they are sociopathic) are supposed to be representing the desires of the community, right? If they’re not accurately representing their constituency, then maybe it’s time to vote them out. Posted by Scott Tepper on Mar 22, 2007 at 07:37 AM | #
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Remind me to never go to Georgia or Kentucky. In my mind we should just cut those states free! Posted by Michael Chapel on Mar 22, 2007 at 10:05 AM | #
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Scott: The only reference I’ve found to the cause is these: “Before the council meeting, council member Diana Preston said the Sports Fan Bar & Grill had 14 police calls for crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to fights over a couple of years. Contigo Peru, which has dancing, had 15, she said. Mayor Bolton said studies show that crime often accompanies bars.” Michael: We do actually need Kentucky. Makers Mark and Ma Blakemann’s candy comes from there. I grew up there in a totally dry county. Practically surrounded by Bourbon distilleries. They still had a pool hall. Posted by Frank Branham on Mar 22, 2007 at 11:29 AM | #
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My condolences for your civic leadership… Hey, I know what to do about this: BRANHAM IN ‘08 Then you can pass sensible laws such as, “A Crokinole Board in every tavern - It’s the LAW!” Posted by Kevin_Whitmore on Mar 23, 2007 at 09:16 PM | #
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BRANHAM IN ‘08 The mind reels… Posted by Larry Levy on Mar 23, 2007 at 10:14 PM | #
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Although there appears to be some discrepancies and differences related to gaming laws in Canada’s Criminal Code and the Canadian Competition Act, when I was researching the possibility of opening a Board Games Cafe here in Regina, a lawyer told me that “...the Canadian Competition Act bans all games of chance (with the exception of provincial lotteries, licensed casinos and charity events) in all public places, including bars and restaurants.” Private clubs, which are not open to the public, are exempt. Games like Billiards, Pool, and Shuffleboard are all OK because they are considered games of skill. According to an RCMP officer that I spoke to, board games are considered ‘games of chance’ according to the Act and fall under the ban. The Criminal Code, however, defines gaming specifically to mean games that involve gambling or exchange of monies… hence the confusion. I’m pretty sure that the Competition Act is not being enforced because I have seen people playing Cribbage, Chess, Checkers, and other card games at local donut shops. Local game stores have in-store gaming all the time and aren’t charged… however, an entire restaurant devoted to game play would probably NOT make the cut. I have been in contact with my local MP to see if the Competition Act could be changed to further define gaming similar to the Criminal Code… and have met with some success. As it is now, because the two laws define ‘gaming’ differently, a person can still be held liable whether gambling is involved or not. Life sucks in Canada. Posted by Jim Pulles on Mar 24, 2007 at 02:54 AM | #
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That is a very silly political issue in Canada. It dodes make me wonder if there are more small laws keeping us down. So to Speak. As to my 2008 platform, I would also like to mandate bar billiards in bars. Look here for details: http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bar-Billiards.htm Posted by Frank Branham on Mar 24, 2007 at 08:31 AM | #
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