Laurels & lances: Guns & money
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Laurel: To a nice jackpot — or at least a piece of one. Visitors to Live Casino Pittsburgh generate millions in revenue for its owners. In 2022, the casino in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall reported almost $112 million between slot machines, table games and sports betting.
That’s great for the company, but does it matter to the community? Yes.
On Monday, Live Casino Pittsburgh spread the wealth by handing out grants for its Local Share Account, a program that redirects a portion of the casino’s take to state and local communities. To date, the grants have totaled $21 million.
The projects funded include things such as stormwater and sewage infrastructure, bridges and parks and fire department upgrades.
“It makes me feel much better to know, when I lose my money (playing games), it’s going to a lot of our municipalities and to our county,” said Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Hempfield.
Lance: To total irresponsibility. When it comes to discussions about gun laws, there often is a back and forth about how laws often are proposed that would penalize responsible gun owners. It would be unfair to punish law-abiding and conscientious owners for the actions of the untrustworthy.
But the responsible gun owners need to hold their less-reliable brethren to account.
It was bad enough when people were regularly “forgetting” that they were wearing or packing guns when trying to get on planes, the single most publicized place where having a gun is visibly forbidden. Pittsburgh International Airport regularly reports this stunning oversight.
This is absolutely irresponsible. An unlocked car is the opposite of the usual statement about a handgun, that it is important for personal safety.
“It’s not only a danger to the public, it’s a danger to law enforcement,” said Chief Jason Schaeffer, who called locking cars that contain weapons “just common sense.”