Here in the U.S., it’s getting easier to buy alcohol on Sundays, with more states allowing Sunday liquor sales and more communities starting to sell booze as early as 6 a.m.
Thirty-six states now allow Sunday sales of distilled spirits, up by 14 from 2002.
Why the change? Economists cite the downturn. In an article in USA Today, Lisa Hawkins of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said “blue laws…simply don’t make sense in today’s economy. They inconvenience consumers and deprive states of much-needed tax revenue.”
Some communities have opted to compromise—agreeing to allow the sale of liquor on Sundays, but voting for later opening times for the stores—say, noon, instead of first thing in the morning.
When it comes to the blue laws, I’m of two minds. On one hand, it’s a little depressing for people to buy liquor at six in the morning. Can’t one day be sacred? On the other hand, Sunday seems a bit arbitrary, and tied to religion. Not everyone holds Sunday as a day of rest, and some religions include wine or other liquor as part of their rituals and meals.
We want to know: what do you think of liquor stores being open on Sundays?
I suspect we’re long past the point of understanding why a majority of Americans thought banning Sunday sales was meaningful. I know the point was religious, in the shouldn’t-one-day-be-sacred sense, but why isn’t wine sacred? Blue laws are a relic of another America, to my mind. You really have to believe liquor is evil in order to get satisfaction from separating it from Sunday. And you have to get some sort of abstract group satisfaction, too — i.e. “we in Indiana are holy no matter what anybody else is.” Did I mention I live across the border from Indiana?