Time for Indiana to repeal its blue laws
Thomas Keister
July 26, 2008
When I moved to southern Indiana nearly nine years ago, it was on a Sunday. Why not, I figured. When I got everything in and settled, I was more than ready to crack open a six-pack. Imagine my surprise when informed I would have to meander across the river to Louisville to buy anything. They had blue laws in Indiana? I wish someone had told me that, I would have moved down the day before. Don't get me started on the whole concept of cold beer costing more than warm beer.
Fifteen states still have blue laws of some form or fashion on the books, in regards to alcohol sales on Sunday. Some states, like Colorado, are coming to their senses and eliminating or modifying the bans, deciding the extra revenue is too good to pass on during the shaky economic times. Colorado, for example, only allows the sale of 3.2% beer on Sundays. See, that makes a lot of sense right there. The amount of 3.2% beer you would have to buy to catch a buzz, should you be left with no other option in Denver on a Sunday afternoon watching the Broncos lose, means the state is going to be laughing all the way to the bank.
Virginia modified their blue law to allow Sunday liquor sales, but only in cities with a population greater than 100,000. Talk about driving economic growth to your urban centers. I wonder if this means the state of Virginia will address the legal technicality that makes sangria illegal.
Of course, where there is an idea, there is opposition. There are of course evangelical and other religious groups cropping up here and there to battle the overturn of these laws. According to a recent study, in the twelve states that repealed their blue laws, there has been a fifteen percent decline in weekly church attendance, leading to a nearly twenty-fie percent dip in donation. As someone who has struggled with his opinion of organized religion in the face of the take no prisoner emergence of "faith-based" issues in arenas of politics and public policy, let me put it to you this way- it's your own damn fault for making Jim Beam more interesting than God. Perhaps you could work on that, rather than protest gay marriage, a woman's choice, or trying to get your brand name on every license plate in the Union.
Joining this side of the fray, in small smatterings, an unlikely ally- liquor store owners and employees. They are throwing some sort of a hissy fit over the potential loss of a day off. Look, I hear you guys. I hate working on Sundays, too, but my employers are open for business on Sundays as a matter of bad taste and harassment over the concept of an extra day off. If you own a liquor store and do not want to open on Sundays, then don't. I mean, it is your business, after all, open and close when you want, within the confines of the law. Just don't whine when you are given an option, not an order. If you aren't prepared for the possibility of a seven-day business week, then maybe you should have stayed on the worker side of the equation.
Before you start screaming about the crime rate going up, don't bother. There has been no significant evidence that crimes like drunk driving have went up as a result of Sunday liquor sales.
In light of the common sense already spelled out here, just in case the state of Indiana needed any other plausible reason to at least consider lifting the blue laws, how about the obvious- the money? The twelve states that decided to allow Sunday sales generated over $200 million in new revenue, with stores showing a five percent increase in earnings. For a state looking for a nickel in every corner and a break around every turn, this is a relatively low-controversy topic with far more reward than risk. After all, it's not like they would vote it in on a Sunday or anything...
Fifteen states still have blue laws of some form or fashion on the books, in regards to alcohol sales on Sunday. Some states, like Colorado, are coming to their senses and eliminating or modifying the bans, deciding the extra revenue is too good to pass on during the shaky economic times. Colorado, for example, only allows the sale of 3.2% beer on Sundays. See, that makes a lot of sense right there. The amount of 3.2% beer you would have to buy to catch a buzz, should you be left with no other option in Denver on a Sunday afternoon watching the Broncos lose, means the state is going to be laughing all the way to the bank.
Virginia modified their blue law to allow Sunday liquor sales, but only in cities with a population greater than 100,000. Talk about driving economic growth to your urban centers. I wonder if this means the state of Virginia will address the legal technicality that makes sangria illegal.
Of course, where there is an idea, there is opposition. There are of course evangelical and other religious groups cropping up here and there to battle the overturn of these laws. According to a recent study, in the twelve states that repealed their blue laws, there has been a fifteen percent decline in weekly church attendance, leading to a nearly twenty-fie percent dip in donation. As someone who has struggled with his opinion of organized religion in the face of the take no prisoner emergence of "faith-based" issues in arenas of politics and public policy, let me put it to you this way- it's your own damn fault for making Jim Beam more interesting than God. Perhaps you could work on that, rather than protest gay marriage, a woman's choice, or trying to get your brand name on every license plate in the Union.
Joining this side of the fray, in small smatterings, an unlikely ally- liquor store owners and employees. They are throwing some sort of a hissy fit over the potential loss of a day off. Look, I hear you guys. I hate working on Sundays, too, but my employers are open for business on Sundays as a matter of bad taste and harassment over the concept of an extra day off. If you own a liquor store and do not want to open on Sundays, then don't. I mean, it is your business, after all, open and close when you want, within the confines of the law. Just don't whine when you are given an option, not an order. If you aren't prepared for the possibility of a seven-day business week, then maybe you should have stayed on the worker side of the equation.
Before you start screaming about the crime rate going up, don't bother. There has been no significant evidence that crimes like drunk driving have went up as a result of Sunday liquor sales.
In light of the common sense already spelled out here, just in case the state of Indiana needed any other plausible reason to at least consider lifting the blue laws, how about the obvious- the money? The twelve states that decided to allow Sunday sales generated over $200 million in new revenue, with stores showing a five percent increase in earnings. For a state looking for a nickel in every corner and a break around every turn, this is a relatively low-controversy topic with far more reward than risk. After all, it's not like they would vote it in on a Sunday or anything...