Del. Eric M. Bromwell (D-Baltimore County) has introduced legislation that would allow 3,000 slot machines inside the secure gate areas at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall airport. I suppose the idea is the same as the recently voter-approved legislation that is allowing slot machines to be installed in five locations around the state: tax people who can’t do math and can likely least afford it. But this one has a wrinkle: by placing slots in the airport, you’re targeting travelers who presumably have money to burn (and frankly, who doesn’t these days?) and are likely from out of state or even out of the country.

Let’s hope that on the off chance this passes, they’ll have better success in implementing it. So far with the previous slots approval, two of the six bidders for the five slot licenses have failed to provide the $22.5 million in fees, and the total number of slots requested has only totalled 6,550, far fewer than the 15,000 allowed under the law.

Slot machines were a bad idea last November, and they’re a bad idea now.

Hey, I’ll admit it. I like going to Las Vegas to gamble and have done so on occassion. But when I board my plane at McCarran, that’s the last I expect to see a slot machine until I go back next time.