28-1107. Possession of a gambling device; penalty; affirmative defense.

(1) A person commits the offense of possession of a gambling device if he or she manufactures, sells, transports, places, possesses, or conducts or negotiates any transaction affecting or designed to affect ownership, custody, or use of any gambling device, knowing that it shall be used in the advancement of unlawful gambling activity.

(2) The owner or operator of a retail establishment who is not a manufacturer, distributor, or seller of mechanical amusement devices as defined under the Mechanical Amusement Device Tax Act, shall have an affirmative defense to possession of a gambling device described in subsection (1) of this section if the device bears an unexpired mechanical amusement device decal as required by such act. However, such affirmative defense may be overcome if the owner or operator had actual knowledge that operation of the device constituted unlawful gambling activity at any time such device was operated on the premises of the retail establishment.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any mechanical game or device classified by the federal government as an illegal gambling device and requiring a federal Gambling Device Tax Stamp as required by the Internal Revenue Service in its administration of 26 U.S.C. 4461 and 4462, amended July 1, 1965, by Public Law 89-44, is hereby declared to be illegal.

(4) Possession of a gambling device is a Class II misdemeanor.

Source:Laws 1977, LB 38, § 223; Laws 1978, LB 900, § 2; Laws 1979, LB 152, § 7; Laws 1987, LB 523, § 4; Laws 2019, LB538, § 1.

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