Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law last month new legislation that outlaws video gambling machines throughout the state. This caused Florida police to go to places like cafes and mom-and-pop store and confiscate dozens of machines, according to the Miami Herald. However, this law also technically outlines some of the machines in Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Buster's.
According to the Herald, many of the banned machines have not been removed from the kid and adult arcades.
"I'm not going to go arrest Chuck E. Cheese in front of a bunch of 6-year-olds," said Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez. "If the governor and the Legislature want that, they can come and do it themselves."
Hernandez saw his city lose 72 of the machines on the day Scott signed the law.
Jennifer Morejan, an owner of an arcade for the elderly in Hialeah, was ordered to close down her business or face charges.
"It's just discrimination," she said. "How can the machines be bad for my customers, who are adults spending their own money, but not for kids? This is something you expect in a country like Cuba, not the United States."
The law easily passed in both houses of state legislature after news broke that certain Internet cafes where computers were available to use for video gambling supposedly run by a charity where the profits were supposed to go to a veteran's organization. However, the money was being pocketed.
The scandal forced the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and effectively put the café's out of business.
Dave & Buster's Vice President of Marketing April Spearman believes the law does not pertain to machines in the popular arcade chain.
"As we understand it, this legislation is not intended to target restaurant and entertainment companies such as Dave & Buster's, Disney and others who operate games of skill," she said. "While we continue to believe this legislation should not impact us, we are working with local law enforcement to understand the new law and ensure we are in full compliance."
What about Chuck E. Cheese?
"We don't have any of those places within the Miami city limits, but I thought there was something in the law so it didn't cover Chuck E. Cheese's," said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado. Hernandez added, "That part of the law is vague."
However, Michael Wolf, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing the Florida Arcade Association, posed the question, "And how is the law not vague when it comes to senior arcades, but vague when it comes to Dave & Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese's?"
