Goatbrush: Not that I necessarily disagree with what you're saying, but a closer match to the seatbelt analogy with the banning of gambling would be banning cars entirely as a reaction to the inherent danger of crashing.
I want to see a 'seatbelt' added to gambling, rather than removing the choice of being able to gamble for those who do so responsibly. It will always end up being abused, just as people continue to drive without seatbelts, but it's better than the outright exploitation people are facing as of this moment.
ChrisSD: By a "seat belt" in gambling do you mean something like having a set maximum you're allowed to gamble and maybe having to have a credit check if you gamble more (like you do for loans and stuff)?
Or just ban certain types like electronic gambling. One of the things I find to be particularly disturbing is the way that casinos are switching over to computer systems. Taking away the feel of the chips leaving the hand and reducing the amount of time necessary to deal a new hand.
Considering that games are tilted in favor of the house, it seems particularly poor to remove the last couple things that slowed the rate of loss down for the gamblers.
Note, I don't have any particular problem with gaming, but, the tricks that get employed are a different matter entirely.
I'm quite talented when it comes to gambling, which is why I refuse to ever do so again. At some point luck does trump skill.