CROWN POINT | Smoking bans often translate to angry words and red-hot debate, but Crown Point seemed to transition to no smoke with no fire Tuesday.

The city's smoking ban began Tuesday after being passed 6-1 in December by the Crown Point City Council. The ban outlaws smoking in all enclosed public places with the exception of bars, private clubs, private residences, retail tobacco stores and designated hotel and motel rooms. Restaurants are part of the ban.

Inside The Smoke Shop, 1115 N. Main St., smoker Roger Burns said he wasn't pleased with the ban and argued restaurants should be allowed to have both smoking and nonsmoking areas.

"I should cut down," he said after buying a carton of smokes.

Laura Jewart, The Smoke Shop's manager, said she didn't think business at the store would be affected by the ban because she didn't think it would persuade any smokers to quit.

"They'll either go someplace else or grin and bear it," she said.

A former competitive bowler, Jewart said she thinks bowling alleys will be hit hard. She said she quit bowling last year after not being allowed to smoke during a tournament in South Bend.

"I can't bowl and not smoke," she said. "That's no fun."

At The Super Bowl, 218 S. East St., maintenance worker Mark Gibson said ashtrays were removed from the lanes Monday night and moved to the bar. He said the ban won't hurt business because smoking remains allowed in the bar.

"We'll have a handful of upset people, but overall it's good for the kids," he said.

Lake County Attorney John Dull said Tuesday the county enforced the city's no-smoking ordinance at the government center.

"The cafeteria is smoke-free today," Dull said. "The only exception is what is called the patio area between A Building and B Building, where judges asked for a place for their jurors to smoke."

County officials banned indiscriminate smoking in government buildings more than a decade ago, but county employees continued until Tuesday to light up throughout the day around its outside doors and part of the cafeteria.

Mothers bringing children into the county health department for vaccinations used to have to walk past a chain of smoking county employees near the east staircase, critics of public smoking said.