Tempting as it might be on a Friday to stop by your neighborhood casino on your way home from work and let your paycheck ride on black, we think the mini-casino concept is one of the worst things to come out of Harrisburg in quite a while. And that’s saying something.

We’re convinced that Lancaster County doesn’t have the appetite for more gambling. But the new law pulls the lever, if you will, on a variety of unappetizing possibilities. It extends casino-style gambling to truck stops, online portals and airports, and allows 10 new mini-casinos to open in a state that already has a dozen casinos operating. Perhaps the only redeeming aspect of the law — and this is a stretch — is that it allows municipalities to opt out from hosting one of the new mini-casinos.

Enter Aument and Martin, neither of whom voted for gambling expansion.

“As a lifelong Lancaster County resident as well as a state senator, I am deeply disturbed and troubled by the new law,” Aument said in a statement. “It saddens me to think that the face and culture of our home and our way of life could forever be negatively changed by a vice that provides no social or economic value.”

We believe Aument’s concerns are valid, as are those of our readers. In addition to the opposition of Aument and Martin, the Lancaster County state House delegation voted 10-1 against the measure. Still, the bill passed with Republican and Democratic support and, well, here we are.

“So really, what values do our legislators support and at whose expense?” asked Neffsville resident David Miron in a Sunday letter to the editor.

An excellent question the legislators who voted “yes” will have to answer for themselves.

We didn’t want more gambling but we got it, and then some.

Pennsylvania is now second only to Nevada in commercial casino revenues. This law marks the biggest expansion of gambling in the state since it legalized casinos more than a decade ago. Pennsylvania becomes the fourth state with internet gambling and the first to allow both casino and lottery games to be offered online.

We appreciate Aument and Martin acting on behalf of what seems to be the will of their constituents, and we agree that the last thing our communities need is mini-casinos.

“We have a solemn obligation and are entrusted to protect our communities from known problems, and I see no public benefit from expanding gambling to a place as special as our county,” Martin said Wednesday.

The law gives local municipalities the power to opt out — and they should use it. Unless we’re missing something, we have no reason to believe the residents of any Lancaster County community are clamoring for a casino, mini or otherwise.

It will now be up to local governments, which must pass a resolution prohibiting the location of one of these facilities within their municipalities by Dec. 31.

“Truly, there is no other place in Pennsylvania or the United States that has the heritage, character and culture that we are blessed with, and we all have been entrusted with preserving those important qualities and our way of life,” Aument and Martin wrote in their letter to local governments. “However, the time has come and you must make a choice about what is best and we hope you will carefully consider the social and other impacts that gambling has on our people, communities and economy and make an appropriate decision.”

We join Aument and Martin in asking municipalities to pass a resolution to prevent a mini-casino from coming to Lancaster County, and we urge you to contact your local officials and express your concerns.

You still have a voice. We hope your municipal leaders are listening.