In 1858, the first Minnesota legislature met and one of the first laws that they passed that year was to restrict the sale of liquor on Sunday. In fact, they didn't even use the word Sunday, but instead referred to the Sabbath. Interestingly, the next line in that chapter of statutes requires the owner of a licensed establishment to "keep a quiet and orderly house, and not permit gambling with cards." So you could go to the tavern to party, just as long as you kept it down and didn't play poker with your friends. This makes it quite apparent that the establishment of these blue laws were to enforce a moral code of conduct. This is no surprise considering that the majority of people who decided to settle in Minnesota were conservative Lutheran Swedes. This is in contrast to their beer-loving German neighbors to the East in Wisconsin who only played around with banning liquor sales on Sunday for about 20 years in their history as a state.
So, why not Sundays?
Knowing the history and culture of Minnesota, it is apparent that the original reason was due to religious opposition towards drinking and drunkenness. This mindset still exists today among religious conservative populations. But why should the spiritual objections of one group restrict the free exercise of the rest of us? Today, we live in a world with a multitude of opinions and a diversity of religious thought which runs counter to allowing one group's beliefs control those of others.
While religion may have been the original reason, today the main reason is money, or at the very least, a resistance to change. The two main groups opposed to allowing Sunday sales are the distributors and the retailers. Both groups like having their guaranteed day off from work. Wouldn't we all? To ensure that this outdated business practice remains in place, these groups pad the pockets of legislators. Now, nobody would actually admit this, so they construct arguments to scare folks into believing that the repeal of this prohibition would shut down small businesses, because it would spread six days of sales over seven days of costs.
Liquor store owners have said that allowing Sunday sales would not increase the total amount of liquor sold, instead whatever someone would have bought on Saturday or Monday will now be bought on Sunday. Though their sales will not increase, their costs of business will increase because they will be forced to hire more staff and pay for the other expenses of being open an additional day.
This would not be a terrible argument if it weren't for the fact that the day that they are closed is one of the busiest shopping days of the week. Just think about when you do your shopping. Saturday and Sunday, right? This year, the Minnesota legislature debated repealing the Sunday sale prohibition and during one of the committee hearings liquor store owners discussed the costs of being open an additional day. During this discussion, it was asked what their worst day of sales was and generally it was agreed that Tuesdays were the worst. Since businesses are not forced to open any other day of the week, these stores could very easily choose to close or have restricted hours on Tuesday to compensate for being open on Sunday.
Additionally, there is evidence that Sunday sales do generate more revenue for businesses. In 2005, the state of Washington implemented a pilot program to test the benefits of allowing Sunday liquor sales and the results were beyond what anyone could have predicted.
Salute!
So, why not Sundays?
Knowing the history and culture of Minnesota, it is apparent that the original reason was due to religious opposition towards drinking and drunkenness. This mindset still exists today among religious conservative populations. But why should the spiritual objections of one group restrict the free exercise of the rest of us? Today, we live in a world with a multitude of opinions and a diversity of religious thought which runs counter to allowing one group's beliefs control those of others.
While religion may have been the original reason, today the main reason is money, or at the very least, a resistance to change. The two main groups opposed to allowing Sunday sales are the distributors and the retailers. Both groups like having their guaranteed day off from work. Wouldn't we all? To ensure that this outdated business practice remains in place, these groups pad the pockets of legislators. Now, nobody would actually admit this, so they construct arguments to scare folks into believing that the repeal of this prohibition would shut down small businesses, because it would spread six days of sales over seven days of costs.
Liquor store owners have said that allowing Sunday sales would not increase the total amount of liquor sold, instead whatever someone would have bought on Saturday or Monday will now be bought on Sunday. Though their sales will not increase, their costs of business will increase because they will be forced to hire more staff and pay for the other expenses of being open an additional day.
This would not be a terrible argument if it weren't for the fact that the day that they are closed is one of the busiest shopping days of the week. Just think about when you do your shopping. Saturday and Sunday, right? This year, the Minnesota legislature debated repealing the Sunday sale prohibition and during one of the committee hearings liquor store owners discussed the costs of being open an additional day. During this discussion, it was asked what their worst day of sales was and generally it was agreed that Tuesdays were the worst. Since businesses are not forced to open any other day of the week, these stores could very easily choose to close or have restricted hours on Tuesday to compensate for being open on Sunday.
Additionally, there is evidence that Sunday sales do generate more revenue for businesses. In 2005, the state of Washington implemented a pilot program to test the benefits of allowing Sunday liquor sales and the results were beyond what anyone could have predicted.
A study of the sales figures would eventually conclude that being open on Sunday increased sales far in excess of the additional staffing costs. At the outset of the program, the Washington Liquor Control Board staff estimated that it would see increased sales worth $9.55 million in the first two years of Sunday sales, while increased staffing and store costs were estimated at $1.43 million. The actual increase in sales among those in the program over the first two years: $18.5 million. - Why one of the most popular arguments against Sunday liquor sales is bunk - MinnPost, January 23, 2015It should be noted that none of these arguments actually matter. All of this debate could be avoided if we could all agree that it is not the government's job to create arbitrary barriers in the market place. Alcohol is a legal product which can be purchased by individuals from businesses who freely choose to sell it. The positives and negatives of restricting sales are moot if we can all agree that this freedom to contract should not be restricted. But that seems like quite the uphill battle.
Salute!
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