"This incident has bought shame to the state of Montana," Clint Walker, son-in-law of shop owners "Cowboy Ron" and Eila Turner, told the House Business and Labor Committee on Wednesday.
The Jan. 21 raid, in which state gambling investigators seized $77,000 worth of old-time gambling equipment from the Cowboy Cabin, led Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, to sponsor a bill to clarify state law.
Gambling Division Administrator Gene Huntington proposed an amendment that would require owners of such devices to purchase a $50 license, good for three years, that would allow them to sell as many antique gambling devices as they want.
"Do you want these devices regulated, or not?" Huntington asked the committee.
Huntington said licensing would give his agency a chance to education people about the legal restrictions involved with gambling devices. For example, moving antique gambling devices across state lines is illegal, he said.
Jackson said the Turners, "don't want to come under the control of the Division of Gambling because they aren't involved in any gambling."
One of the items taken in the raid was a roulette wheel built in the 1880s and featured in the Miss Kitty's Long Branch Saloon on the television western "Gunsmoke."
"These items are all over the western United States," Ron Turner said. "No one has ever had any difficulty with them."
The committee was expected to act on the bill and proposed amendments by Friday. The bill passed the Senate on a 45-5 vote.
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