Gulf Coast May Look to Land-Based Casinos

Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast gambling industry could sway Mississippi legislators to consider allowing land-based casinos and scrap the law that placed them on the water in vulnerable spots.

"I think that will be a public policy question that will be on the minds of every legislator when they come in for the next session," said Larry Gregory, the Mississippi Gaming Commission's executive director. "That discussion will be the No. 1 issue in this legislative cycle. This will definitely put the fire under their feet."

More than half of the 13 casinos in Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis were destroyed by the hurricane that roared in off the ocean.

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