The 1990s have proven to be a decade of many divisive social issues: gun control, gay soldiers, the Internet, Magic the Gathering .... Yes, I believe that the next problem to grab the attention of the nation and the resources of our great President will be the growing dilemma of Magic the Gathering.

Everyone is familiar with the debate over how to regulate the Internet. The Net, as it's called, is an affiliation of private enthusiasts grouped together to pursue a common interest; they hope to do so without any input or control from the government. A certain lunatic fringe still contends that the Net needs no regulation, but these poor souls may as well argue that a road would run more efficiently without all those annoying little stop signs*.

Surely, it is obvious how similar the Internet is to Magic the Gathering. Magic is also an affiliation of enthusiasts who can meet at any time to transact their games, without any input or control from the government. Suppose a Magic player were to cheat, or to play by rules that weren't officially accepted. He might win a valuable card in an ante that he never should have received. That card could strengthen his deck and give him an unfair advantage in every game he ever enters into in the future. The opportunities for corruption and prejudice are staggering.

The scariest thing about the world of Magic is that the affiliated rules are completely unenforceable. Wizards of the Coast has tried diligently to craft some regulations to let people know what to expect. If a group of players decides to violate the rules, however, there is absolutely no way to stop them. They can laugh in the face of justice with impunity, and those who try to be conscientious and follow the rules simply can't compete.

Federal law currently consists of fifty Titles and over a hundred thousand pages. I propose the establishment of Title 51, to be known as the "Federal Gaming Code." We could begin by incorporating all the rules of Magic into this new Title of Federal law. We would probably need a Supreme Court decision to define the words "Deck" and "Ante," and another to determine whether using black cards to represent evil magic violated the Equal Protection rights of African Americans".

Once the Court had completed its review, we would be able to enforce legal sanctions against people who use over-stacked decks or improper antes. Search warrants could be issued to allow police to enter peoples'homes and inspect games in progress. We could even require players to register their games so that minorities would be aware of gaming sites, thus preventing invidious discrimination and enriching the diversity of the Magic community.

Registration and control would be a firm foundation for applying taxation to the game. Today, virtually 100% of ante cards won in Magic games are not reported on Federal income tax returns. If the law were applied consistently, every winning player would be required to fill out a subschedule that lists all cards won during the year and the market values of each. If experienced players were to give a new player a deck to play with, any winnings would incur Federal Gift Taxation as well. The resources from these taxes could be used for much-needed Federal programs to service the hobby.

It could fund statistical analyses and sociological studies to help non-gamers better understand and better coexist with "the gaming community. Another program could work to raise the self-esteem of gaming participants by sensitizing them the inescapable network of mutualities within which they exist.

There will, of course, be violations. This country has a sad history of hatred and disrespect for authority, and there will those who break the rules simply to thumb their noses at the government. To deal with these people, I propose some simple additions to existing enforcement agencies. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), for example, become the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Gaming (ATFG). Imagine a front-page newspaper picture:

A half-dozen agents in full riot gear stand around a table loaded with overstacked decks and multi-card antes. Chalk es can be seen in the background. "...the felons presented their cards in a threatening fashion ... silhouettes resembling only used firearms ... considering the poor lighting and split-second decisions, it was inevitable, though unfortunate, the agents opened fire ... such is the price we pay for an ordered, safe society."

Perhaps I'm being idealistic to think that our nation could take such a great step forward. We should never give up, ,though, on idealism. It is what has made our people strong and our nation great. So long as we can keep Clinton in the House, anything is possible.

*For academic purposes, of course, we ignore the Federal freeway system.

**It is likely that the high court would find that black cards constitute a violation. Such a result would not necessarily be however. It would simply mean that all black cards would have to be re-called by the manufacturer and reissued in a color that is not associated with any politically sensitive group - fuchia or mauve, for example. Although the re-call would cost Wizards of the Coast a substantial amount of money, they would receive the greater benefit of being able to right a social wrong put themselves into the beneficial service of their society It would therefore be a winning situation for everyone.