A customer at a convenience store holds her Mega Millions lottery tickets Friday, March 30, 2012, in Portland, Ore. Lottery ticket lines across the U.S. swelled Friday as players drawn by a record $640 million Mega Millions jackpot took a chance at becoming an overnight millionaire. The jackpot odds were at 1 in 176 million. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

North Carolina lawmakers have drafted legislation that would ban welfare recipients and people in bankruptcy from buying lottery tickets in the state, according to several news reports.

The bill draft would punish vendors for selling lottery tickets to someone who they know is on welfare or in bankruptcy, according to ABC 11 in Raleigh. The lawmakers behind it believe it's counterproductive for the government to accept money from welfare recipients who are struggling to get by.