Senate addresses store raid

By MIKE RICHESON- Bigfork Eagle

Montana’s Senate Business and Labor Committee drafted a bill on Friday to clarify the intent of a law that allowed state agents to confiscate nearly 100-year-old gambling equipment from a Whitefish store last month.

The raid raised the consternation of many Flathead and Montana residents who thought the raid went far beyond anything considered reasonable.

The new bill, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2007, states that an illegal gambling device may be possessed by a licensed busines establishment for the purposes of resale but not for gambling use.

Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, said that he and other senators were talking about the issue in committee and decided that something was necessary to help “Cowboy Ron” Turner, owner of the Cowboy Cabin in Whitefish.

On Jan. 31, Department of Justice Gambling Investigation Division agents seized numerous antiques at the store - two antique roulette wheels, two early 20th Century punchboards and a chuck-a-luck, an hourglass-shaped cage that spins with three dice inside. Turner said he estimates the antiques have a total value of $77,000.

“We’re really busy, but we decided this merited our attention,” Jackson said. “We just decided to do it.”

The decision to pursue the issue came at about 11 a.m. last Friday, and by 12:30 p.m. they had a bill draft finished.

The bill must pass the full Senate by the deadline on Feb. 28.

“Any bill not through the Senate by then is dead,” Jackson said. “We did feel that [the state agents] may have followed the law but not necessarily the intent of it. The law did not intend for them to go and take antique items out of the store. We’ll see if we can keep our zealous state officials under control.”