---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 1175"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "1175"
heading: "Specific jurisdictions within which manufacturing, repairing, selling, possessing, etc., prohibited; exceptions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/1175"
units:
  - "Chapter 24 — Transportation of Gambling Devices"
---

# §1175. Specific jurisdictions within which manufacturing, repairing, selling, possessing, etc., prohibited; exceptions

- (a) **General rule—** It shall be unlawful to manufacture, recondition, repair, sell, transport, possess, or use any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) in the District of Columbia, in any [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c), within Indian country as defined in [section 1151 of title 18](/usc/18/1151.md) or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States as defined in [section 7 of title 18](/usc/18/7.md), including on a vessel documented under [chapter 121](/usc/46/chstII/ptH/ch121.md) of title 46 or documented under the laws of a foreign country.
- (b) **Exception—**
  - (1) **In general—** Except for a voyage or a segment of a voyage that begins and ends in the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Hawaii, or as provided in [paragraph (2)](#b-2), this section does not prohibit—
    - (A) the repair, transport, possession, or use of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a vessel that is not within the [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f) of any [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c);
    - (B) the transport or possession, on a voyage, of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a vessel that is within the [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f) of any [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c), if—
      - (i) use of the [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a portion of that voyage is, by reason of [subparagraph (A)](#b-1-A), not a violation of this section; and
      - (ii) the [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) remains on board that vessel while the vessel is within the [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f) of that [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or possession; or
    - (C) the repair, transport, possession, or use of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a vessel on a voyage that begins in the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Indiana and that does not leave the territorial jurisdiction of that [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b), including such a voyage on Lake Michigan.
  - (2) **Application to certain voyages—**
    - (A) **General rule—** [Paragraph (1)(A)](#b-1-A) does not apply to the repair or use of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a vessel that is on a voyage or segment of a voyage described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph if the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c) in which the voyage or segment begins and ends has enacted a statute the terms of which prohibit that repair or use on that voyage or segment.
    - (B) **Voyage and segment described—** A voyage or segment of a voyage referred to in [subparagraph (A)](#b-2-A) is a voyage or segment, respectively—
      - (i) that begins and ends in the same [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c), and
      - (ii) during which the vessel does not make an intervening stop within the [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f) of another [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c) or a foreign country.
    - (C) **Exclusion of certain voyages and segments—** Except for a voyage or segment of a voyage that occurs within the [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f) of the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Hawaii, a voyage or segment of a voyage is not described in [subparagraph (B)](#b-2-B) if it includes or consists of a segment—
      - (i) that begins and ends in the same [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b);
      - (ii) that is part of a voyage to another [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or to a foreign country; and
      - (iii) in which the vessel reaches the other [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or foreign country within 3 days after leaving the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) in which it begins.
- (c) **Exception for Alaska—**
  - (1) With respect to a vessel operating in Alaska, this section does not prohibit, nor may the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Alaska make it a violation of law for there to occur, the repair, transport, possession, or use of any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on board a vessel which provides sleeping accommodations for all of its passengers and that is on a voyage or segment of a voyage described in [paragraph (2)](#c-2), except that such [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) may, within its [boundaries](/usc/15/1171.md?p=f)—
    - (A) prohibit the use of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) on a vessel while it is docked or anchored or while it is operating within 3 nautical miles of a port at which it is scheduled to call; and
    - (B) require the [gambling devices](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) to remain on board the vessel.
  - (2) A voyage referred to in [paragraph (1)](#c-1) is a voyage that—
    - (A) includes a stop in Canada or in a [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) other than the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Alaska;
    - (B) includes stops in at least 2 different ports situated in the [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) of Alaska; and
    - (C) is of at least 60 hours duration.

## Source credit

(Jan. 2, 1951, ch. 1194, § 5, 64 Stat. 1135; Pub. L. 102–251, title II, § 202(b), Mar. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 61; Pub. L. 104–264, title XII, § 1222, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3286; Pub. L. 104–324, title XI, § 1106, Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3967; Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(4) [div. B, title I, § 147], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–251.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–554 inserted “for a voyage or a segment of a voyage that begins and ends in the State of Hawaii, or” after “Except” in introductory provisions.

1996—Subsec. (b)(1)(C). Pub. L. 104–324, § 1106(b), added subpar. (C).

Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 104–264, § 1222, and Pub. L. 104–324, § 1106(a), made substantially identical amendments, adding subpar. (C). The text of subpar. (C) is based on amendment by Pub. L. 104–324.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–324, § 1106(c), added subsec. (c).

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–251, § 202(b)(1), (2), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and inserted before period at end “, including on a vessel documented under chapter 121 of title 46 or documented under the laws of a foreign country”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–251, § 202(b)(3), added subsec. (b).

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

Except as otherwise specifically provided, amendment by Pub. L. 104–264 applicable only to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1996, and not to be construed as affecting funds made available for a fiscal year ending before Oct. 1, 1996, see section 3 of Pub. L. 104–264, set out as a note under section 106 of Title 49, Transportation.