| Slots in Maryland: Will a sad history repeat itself? By Andrew L. Gunn Gov. Robert Ehrlich, wants to bring slot machines back into Maryland. From 1955 to 1961 slot machines could be found everywhere in southern Maryland, from grocery stores to drug stores, car dealerships to barbershops, gas stations to convenience stores. For six years, I witnessed how playing slot machines destroyed lives. A young couple, whose marriage I performed in 1955, ended their marriage three years later, a direct result of the husbands addiction to the one-armed bandits. He had gambled away all of his income on the slots. At a church meeting with parents, I learned that children and teenagers were stealing from home in order to play the slots. I learned as I made pastoral calls that the loss of money to slot machines caused a great deal of conflict and serious harm to marriages, families and individuals. In many cases, families became dysfunctional and broken. The slot machine establishments that lined Route 301 in the 1950s and 60s attracted an undesirable element from the surrounding counties and states, according to many people in Charles County. The Waldorf Leaf and the Times Crescent of LaPlata reported the increasing crime rates in the area. In 1958, I asked then Gov. Millard Tawes for a meeting. He granted my request, and I went with two of my colleagues, asking him if he would help us get rid of slot machines in southern Maryland. The governors response was that, although he personally was opposed to the slots, it was up to the legislature. That day, I began a long and sometimes dangerous battle that lasted five years. Finally, in 1962, the Maryland State Legislature passed a law banning all slot machines in the state. Today, there is a new and dangerous threat to bring them back. Slots are a vice, they are parasites, they are addictive, and they are detrimental to a healthy economy. Many studies have shown that slot machines suck up huge amounts of money that would otherwise be used to buy goods and services from small and moderate businesses in the areas surrounding them. Many small businesses fail when slots move in. Slots play on the false hopes of the poor and those who believe they can get something for nothing. It diminishes the work ethic that has made this nation great. Slot machines are a form of legalized theft. They are electronically programmed to return only 70 to 90 percent of the money put into them. What a shame, what an outrage it is that the governor, lieutenant governor and legislators of Maryland are considering bringing legalized theft back. If Maryland needs more revenue, close some of the loopholes that are given to corporations and special interest groups. Rev. Andrew Gunn, retired, served in the Baltimore-Washington Conference from 1955 to 2000. He lives in Germantown. | 
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