Play Meter

- rE LAST WORD The gang's all here ''S o how much did you and Frankie get?" asked Jose, the leader of the gang. " Not much; couple of hundred," answered Curtis. "I stuck my pistol in his face and asked him for more, but the old dude said that 's all he had in the register. He thought he was a tough guy, so I cracked him upside his skull with the gun. 'How tough are you now?' I says to him. Man, did he bleed!" Jose was not impressed. "How we supposed to buy coke with two bills? You and Frankie keep this up and the Deaths are gonna be looking for two new gang members." "Lighten up, bro," Curtis said. "Frankie knows where we can get our hands on two Uzis, a .357, and six Saturday Night Specials. You see them Serpents smiling over there? We gonna deal them some big-time grief with all the hardware I got lined up." "Why don't you say it a little louder, stupid, so everyone in the arcade can hear you! " Jose yelled. "Oh, sorry bro, I got a little excited," Curtis apologized. "Anyway, while we wait for the war, wanna play another video? I think I got two quarters. " To a state legislator in New Mexico, this bit of fiction was steeped in fact. In case you didn't read the item in this month's "News " section, Rep. Albert Gurule of Albuquerque has sponsored a bill that calls for a nickel tax on all arcade games because, in his mind, arcades are popular meeting places for gangs. Who better to fund gang-prevention programs than an industry which fosters gang socials, Gurule apparently thought. Luckily, members of New Mexico's coin machine association met with Gurule in time to persuade him to table his bill in committee. It shouldn't see the light of day for the remainder of the legislative session. "Arcades promote good, clean fun, but he was under the impression that our arcades were used as hang-outs for gangs," said Ken Anderson, president of the Vending Amusement and Music Operators Association. "Instead of having 100 kids in one spot being supervised by a minimum amount of adults, this tax would've put arcades out of business and scattered those 100 kids all over the place. Which of those scenes would've promoted gang involvement?" Rep. Gurule was educated about the realities of the coin-op amusement industry before his silly bill could advance further and possibly devastate businesses throughout the state. But the sad truth is that this country is full of crusading legislators who PLAY METE~ 152 APRIL 1993 seek to cure society's ills by heaping taxes on this industry. They are under the impression that operators, who must be raking in piles of cash, would fork over tax money with the same enthusiasm as John D. Rockefeller handing out shiny silver dimes to crowds of waifs. Until they know otherwise, legislators will continue to push for gross receipts taxes, exorbitant per-machine taxes, and the like. What can you do? I know it sounds like a broken record, but you must join your state association. It needs your participation, it needs your ideas, but frankly, more than anything, it needs your dues to hire a lobbyist who will monitor adverse legislation and fight it when it arises. What would New Mexico's coin machine industry have looked like had Gurule's bill become law? I'm sure Anderson and other operators there shudder to think of such a landscape. If you aren't helping your state association remain vigilant, you should shudder, too. Legislators like Gurule might be planning a little surprise for you. D Christopher Caire Features Editor