In total disregard of slippery slopes, South Carolina just passed a law legalizing pinball for minors.

Back when coin-operated pinball machines were first created during the Great Depression, they didn't have the classic flippers.

The ball would just bounce around and land in different holes. Store owners would then offer their customers prizes based on which hole the ball landed.

Given that it was a game of chance, pinball was largely outlawed for minors as a gambling device.

In the late 1940s, however, manufacturers added the flippers and transformed the game of chance into a game of skill.

It still took a while for states to come around to legalizing pinball for kids.

One of the most famous pinball games played was when Roger Sharpe called his shot and sent the ball straight down the center lane during a New York City council meeting held to prove pinball was a game of skill, not chance.

By the end of the 1970s, all the states had lifted the ban except one: South Carolina.

AND IT TOOK UNTIL 2026 FOR THE STATE TO GIVE IN!

The South Carolina Daily Gazette reports,

A law the governor signed last month removed the arcade game from the list of so-called status offenses outlawed for anyone under the age of 18, following a decade-long effort.

A decade!

Gotta admire the efficiency of government.

Legislation to remove pinball from that list has been proposed repeatedly since 2015, with no luck — until this session.

Of course, no one actually follows the ban anymore. Multiple senators acknowledge playing pinball when they were younger, and kids can be seen playing the game at locations across the state.

But if anyone DID enforce the law, the owners of businesses with pinball machines could be penalized, as absurd as that may be.

Even though no minors have faced charges of illegally playing pinball, the threat of breaking the law hung over business owners' heads, [House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford] said.

Bars, especially, don't want to do anything that could jeopardize their liquor license, he said.

Now kids can finally enjoy pinball in peace … assuming you can pull them away from their electronic screens long enough to play a game where they have to use their hands.

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