Blue laws, why do any of them exist?

[illusion88]

Oddly enough, this exact same requirement exists in Nevada casinos, some of the drinkingest places in the country. I don't know the number, but I think regulations promulgated by the NGCB and Taxation (which regulates alcohol) prohibit the dispensing of more than one complimentary alcoholic drink to a patron at a time. This requirement does not exist as far as I know for purchased alcohol, just comped.

I have noticed that in Wendover. I didn't realize it was state wide. The only time it bugs me is if I'm out for a big night and it's laast call (which is at 1am most places, bars have to stay open an hour after they serve their last drink) and I want to load up a few rounds. In most other states I can order how ever many beers I want and drink them at my leisure while the bar is clearing out. In Utah, not so much.

And I know how this can bug the wait staff. I wait tables, I have tended bar. If a customer who is tipping well and isn't causing trouble wants to stick around while I clean up, no problem. If you are some douchenozzle asshat then you need to GTFO of my establishment. The management is gone at that time of night. Closing time is my time and I get to decide who can stay.

 

[Kadarin]

Just means you have to stockup on friday or saturday

Which sort of renders the laws completely and utterly pointless.

 

[Merad]

It's absolutely ridiculous that in 2011, there are still laws like this that were made for what may as well be referred to as prehistoric times of our history.

You live in Texas, and you're just now finding out about this? Or surprised about it?

Welcome to the backwards south. You think that's bad? Should've seen the advertising a couple years ago when my original hometown voted on allowing liquor to be served by the drink. The opposition literally took out multiple billboards, newspaper adds, etc depicting a little girl with the caption "Don't destroy my future".

 

[nageov3t]

You live in Texas, and you're just now finding out about this? Or surprised about it?

Welcome to the backwards south. You think that's bad? Should've seen the advertising a couple years ago when my original hometown voted on allowing liquor to be served by the drink. The opposition literally took out multiple billboards, newspaper adds, etc depicting a little girl with the caption "Don't destroy my future".

meh? there are blue laws in the north east too.

you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that NJ is part of the bible belt.

 

[monovillage]

I like the blue law in Colorado that car dealerships can't be open on Sunday. I voted to repeal it, but it failed anyway. The car dealerships were the biggest contributors to keep themselves closed on Sundays. It seems it's true in 11 States with Oregon car dealerships pushing to make it 12 (2008 article)

http://bligbi.com/2008/12/09/oregon-car-sellers-want-blue-laws-passed/

 

[Howard]

People fear what they do not know.

Also, they hate themselves. Right, B?

 

[OutHouse]

in colorado its against the law for car dealers to be open.

Edit: beaten to it by monovillage

Edit2: colorado allows liquor stores to be open on sundays. that measure was passed 2 years ago. BUT selling wine in grocery stores got put down. i love going to texas the wine selections in kroger is awsome.

 

[her209]

Don't know if its still true, but its illegal for you to pump your own gas in Oregon and NJ.

 

[Svnla]

There is a big fight in Texarkana, TX/AR about the sale of alcohol (for vs. against).

http://arklatexhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=160466

For those of you that are not familiar with Texarkana, it is a city with the main street divides the city in half. Half of it is in Texas and half of it is in Arkansas.

 

[Xenon]

You are from Texas. If it upsets you so much how about you start voting for some liberals for a change.

 

[dawp]

This is texas we're talking about. It really wasn't that long ago that most stores were not allowed to be opened on sundays, period. That changed in the late '80s. Grocery stores still cant sell liquor and liquor store can't open on sundays where as here in Missouri I can walk into a grocery store and buy a bottle of Jack after 9am on sunday.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

There is absolutely no reason why I shouldn't be able to buy a bottle of wine as a gift at 10am on a sunday... why does it matter at all?

It's absolutely ridiculous that in 2011, there are still laws like this that were made for what may as well be referred to as prehistoric times of our history.

Congratulations on your baby.

Why do we still have blue laws? Answer: Christians.

What's ironic is that many people who support the blue laws are probably the same people who complain about big government and government interfering with and regulating businesses.

 

[Texashiker]

Why do we still have blue laws? Answer: Christians.

To further add to that statement, in a Southeast Texas town called Lumberton, the local residents have been fighting back and forth about allowing the sale of beer and wine inside the city limits. The biggest opponents are people from a church in Lumberton.

I say that I am Christian, but I do not need anyone else telling me what I can and can not do - especially when it comes to making adult decisions. If I want to buy a bottle of jack daniels sunday morning, I should be able to do so.

The problem is when the christian right holds political control over an area. First those people have to be voted out of office, and then the laws can get changed. But, those people will not get voted out, because christians hold the majority.

If I have to, I can drive across the Sabine river and buy what I want in Louisiana. But not everyone has that option.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Sunday is the day of worship for God, not for you to be drinking.

Now once church is over (12:00 or 1:00), by all means load 'er up! But the real reason they are on the books is people vote and continue to vote to have it that way. That's a free society.

Case in point, my county you couldn't buy spirits on Sunday at all. Beer and wine were fine. We voted to sell spirits on Sunday and it passed about 10 years ago. Still no sales period until 1:00 Sunday, even in restaurants.

And it's not aged or unwanted law. Each year that stuff comes up on the local ballot and each year people vote to not change it. Same with dry counties, it always comes up to make it wet, and it's almost always defeated. Many people purposefully move to and highly desire a dry county.

The majority voting to take rights away from the minority may be democracy, but it is most certainly not a "free society".

 

[nageov3t]

Don't know if its still true, but its illegal for you to pump your own gas in Oregon and NJ.

yup.

nothing to do with blue laws, though.

I think the arguments in favor of it are lower insurance costs for gas station owners and job creation.

 

[Thump553]

At this stage its a pretty minor inconvenience. New England had pretty severe blue laws-a hangover from the Puritan days I guess. I remember as a kid (well into the mid 1960's) that nearly every store was closed on Sunday-Sundays were for family, not for shopping. The mall-ification of America helped break that law-most of my state's blue laws (except liquor) were repealed in the sixties.

Heck even now we can't buy any beer, wine or spirits after 8 PM, all day Sunday and on anything remotely resembling a holiday.

On the upside it forces us to plan ahead at least a little.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Because old church ladies have nothing better to do than vote while all the drunks are nursing a hangover on election day.

If you want to change it start a grass roots campaign and advertise in the local newsletter that everyone that shows up to vote against the blue laws gets a coupon for a free six pack

 

[monovillage]

In some cases it isn't religion, it's straight economics. The car dealerships want to cut costs by not being open on Sundays and they want to prevent any other car dealerships to be open. It's all about stifling competition with the aid of regulation.

 

[Wreckem]

In Texas (and probably most everywhere), when you have a dry to wet election, you get this really strange alliance formed. Hardshell Babtists and their ilk join forces with all the liquor store owners strategically situated on the major roads leading into the dry county, to help defeat the ballot issue.

My favorite was old Brazoria County, where the then county sherrif had his fingers in a number of those type of liquor stores. If you bought from the 'right' one you drove back home, no problem. If you bought from one of the competing stores, you were much more likely to be stopped on the way back. Funny that.

There was a bill in the Lege. this year that would have allowed liquor sales on Sunday. Guess who opposed it? Liquor Stores. I believe it never made it out of committee.

 

[Thump553]

In some cases it isn't religion, it's straight economics. The car dealerships want to cut costs by not being open on Sundays and they want to prevent any other car dealerships to be open. It's all about stifling competition with the aid of regulation.

You have an excellent point. The car dealerships fought tooth and nail against car sales on Sundays when that passed a few years back here. And every legislative session there is a serious push to allow Sunday liquor sales here (like all our neighboring states-which is maybe a 30-40 mile drive from anywhere in CT) which is strongly and vehemently opposed by the CT package store associations, on the grounds it will kill the mom and pop stores by forcing them to hire staff. So far the stores have won.

 

[werepossum]

I have less problem with a community banning a particular product or service than with that community deciding I can't buy it at a particular time because it is offensive.

 

[dank69]

Blue laws seem to have originated in CT. I apologize to the rest of the country on behalf of my state.

I remember people telling me on several occasions that blue laws here were put into place because of understaffed police departments, hence the name blue. Get it? Police = blue. Apparently there were a rash of liquor store robberies up here on sundays because the crooks realized there weren't enough on duty police on sundays. So instead of hiring more police, they just made all the stores close on sundays.

Apparently all the people who told me this were misinformed. :hmm:
Well maybe there is some truth to it, but definitely not the blue part of it.

 

[BoberFett]

Don't know if its still true, but its illegal for you to pump your own gas in Oregon and NJ.

Damn red states bible thumpers and their gasoline hatred!

 

[BoberFett]

You are from Texas. If it upsets you so much how about you start voting for some liberals for a change.

Another idiot who thinks "liberals" would change it.

 

[Thump553]

Blue laws seem to have originated in CT. I apologize to the rest of the country on behalf of my state.

I remember people telling me on several occasions that blue laws here were put into place because of understaffed police departments, hence the name blue. Get it? Police = blue. Apparently there were a rash of liquor store robberies up here on sundays because the crooks realized there weren't enough on duty police on sundays. So instead of hiring more police, they just made all the stores close on sundays.

Apparently all the people who told me this were misinformed. :hmm:
Well maybe there is some truth to it, but definitely not the blue part of it.

There is a small kernel of truth in what you heard. In the 1950's CT had a rash of late night package story robberies where the clerks got murdered. To address the problem the state legislature pushed the package store closing time back to 8 PM, where it has been ever since.

Incidentally that robber-Mad Dog Taborsky-was the last person to ride the electric chair in CT. His legacy-the mad dash to the packie to be there before 8 PM-lives on in infamy though.

Blue laws originally covered a lot more than just liquor sales, but I don't know if CT can claim the "honor" of originating them. I always thought it was the Pilgrims in MA that started this sad trend.