# Did anyone live in a 'Blue Law' state? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044 "2016-10-19T17:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/41 "2016-10-20T15:00:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > When I lived in Massachusetts, we would often get screwed during three-day weekends where the holiday fell on a Monday. The conversation would go something like this: > “Did you buy booze for the barbeque tomorrow?” > “I’m going to get it today.” > “It’s Sunday. Liquor store’s closed.” > “Shit. Now I have to go all the way to New Hampshire”. Then in 1990 after complaints from the stores that they were losing sales to New Hampshire they changed the law so you could sell on Sunday if you were within 10 miles of the NH border. Of course that led to all the stores 11 miles from NH to start complaining about losing sales to those 10 miles from NH… until eventually Sunday sales were allowed state wide in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/42 "2016-10-20T15:05:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Illinois has blue laws against auto dealership being open on a Sunday. From what I’ve heard, the businesses actually prefer it that way which is why no one’s ever tried to change it. Customers like it since you can walk the lot without worrying about getting hassled. > > Also, you can’t sell liquor until 11am (or noon?) on a Sunday which sort of sucks if you’re looking for a Bloody Mary with breakfast. Here in Rhode Island the issue of car sales on Sunday came up recently. I can’t remember how it got decided, but a lot of dealers just didn’t want to be open on Sunday because it would increase their costs to stay open and if the law was changed they’d lose customers to competitors if they didn’t open on Sunday. The absurdity of it is that like anything else in our lilliputian state you can go right across the border to MA where all the car dealers are open on Sunday anyway. We are a weird little place. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/43 "2016-10-20T15:09:32Z")
Still do! Hunting is still not allowed in Virginia on Sundays. Originally put in place to get the gentlemen of Virginia in to church on Sunday mornings (and to encourage the seriously hunting addicted to learn the names of their children!) the ban is still defended by some on the ground that it allows equestrians and hikers and picnicers to use the woods without fear one day per week. Liquor for consumption on-premises can’t be sold 12:00am to 6:00am. Hard liquor for off-premises consumption can only be sold by the state-sponsored stores. When I was a child, neither were open on Sunday - I presume this was a law but I don’t know. Now both are open but only for very limited hours. There has been a long slow process of softening these laws, but the “ain’t dead yet.” ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/44 "2016-10-20T15:13:07Z")
q \pSDFGHL ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/45 "2016-10-20T15:20:50Z")
Ultra-Liberal MA. Go figure. Booze could not be sold after 8:30PM on Sat, and when I was in college, no matter how much beer we bought on Sat, we always ran out on Sunday and someone would have to make a “packy run” to NH to replenish supplies. Not just booze, though. I once needed a part for my car (broken down on the highway) and the guy at the gas station said: I’ve got one inside, but I can’ sell it to you on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/46 "2016-10-20T16:26:17Z")
> [@5\_time\_champ](#): > > IIRC, one of the arguments for the repeal of Missouri Blue Laws [circa 1980] was that merchants could sell Playboy magazine [periodical], but not the Bible [book]. Yes, I remember that. Not being able to legally buy a Bible on Sunday really made the laws look ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/47 "2016-10-20T16:38:23Z")
I know that Paramus, NJ had some. I know that Ocean [del]Grave[/del] Grove NJ had some. It was no harder to plan your week around them then it was to read a supermarket sales circular. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/48 "2016-10-20T23:22:42Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I know that Paramus, NJ had some. On the contrary. Paramus and the entire rest of Bergen County still bans just about everything but food, gasoline, and entertainment on Sunday. It’s very interesting when the Target or whatever has most of the store roped off, and only the grocery aisles open. And even the supermarkets have some things they’re not allowed to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/49 "2016-10-21T01:17:26Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > CT has relatively relaxed blue laws, but weirdness prevails. We just allowed liquor sales on Sunday, although everyone including the independent liquor stores claimed it would drive them all out of business for having to stay open an additional day and hours. > > (No, the argument makes no sense. As none have yet gone out of business in two years, either… but the \*zeitgeist \*here is to cling to the status quo as though all alternatives lead straight to the eve of destruction. Rationalization is the state sport.) Weekend closing gives an advantage to Mom-n-Pop operations: they work for below-rate wages mid-week, and close on weekends. If they have to open weekends, they either work 7 day weeks, or hire staff at full wages. An effect of weekend-openeing and late hours is normally that the business advantage shifts from family-operated stores (including franchise) to company operated stores. Change in operating conditions does not mean that shops suddenly shut. Even in worst case, they run until end-of-lease. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/50 "2016-10-21T01:56:51Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Indiana - No package alcohol sales on Sunday (with an exception for breweries), You can still go out and get liquored up at a bar though. Or Election Day, which I found out when I tried to buy a 6-pack of IBC root beer (which comes in brown glass bottles) on Election Day. Had to call the cashier’s attention to the fact that root beer does not, in fact, contain alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/51 "2016-10-21T02:34:45Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Annoyingly, I can buy all the cheap, nasty beer I want at grocery stores in Minnesota 24/7, as near as I can tell. If I want to get something worth drinking, I have to have daylight and not Sunday. It’s such a pain in the ass. If I can ever figure out how to word it so I don’t sound like a drunk, I’m writing my reps such a letter. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/52 "2016-10-21T08:26:23Z")
I live in Kansas and the liquor stores used to be closed on Sunday. So no booze buying, as grocery stores couldn’t, and still can’t, sell hard liquors, just 3.2 beer. It’s only been in the last ten years I think that liquor stores could open on Sunday. Still feels kind of odd to be in one then. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/53 "2016-10-21T13:03:29Z")
Maryland, specifically Montgomery County. All alcohol is controlled by the county. Beer and wine can be purchased from private retailers, but spirits for off-premises consumption can only be purchased from a county-owned-and-operated store, and the county stores were simply closed on Sundays until fairly recently, like just a few years ago, if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/54 "2016-10-21T21:35:08Z")
I was stationed in Ohio in the early 1970’s and some of their Blue Laws were still in effect, IIRC, you could only buy edibles on Sunday. One particularly savvy furniture store owner found a neat way around the law. He’d display a bag of carrots on a sofa or dining table or armchair at some outrageous price. If the customer was willing to pay $500.00 for a bag of carrots, he could have the sofa for free. Never did learn if that ingenious practice went on for long. Good ol’ Yankee ingenuity. I’ve lived in Philadelphia most of my life, so I’ve been well-acquainted with Blue Laws(thanks, Quakers) I don’t know if it’s still in effect, but you couldn’t buy liquor of any sort ANYwhere on election day, until after the polls closed. I guess the Bluestockings were fearful of those darned partisan politicos getting guys liquored up enough to vote for THEIR guy. But oh baby, come 8:00 P.M., it was like the end of Prohibition. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/55 "2016-10-21T21:50:49Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > But oh baby, come 8:00 P.M., it was like the end of Prohibition. Well, whether you are celebrating or drowning your sorrows, gotta have booze at the post-election receptions. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/56 "2016-10-22T16:18:07Z")
To the states that have strict liquor laws: I wonder if the DUI’s are less on Sunday’s ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/57 "2016-10-22T18:36:49Z")
> [@Wikipedia\[/quote](#): > > One of the last remaining Sunday closing laws in the United States that covers selling electronics, clothing and furniture is found in Bergen County, New Jersey. Bergen County, part of the New York metropolitan area, has one of the largest concentrations of enclosed retail shopping malls of any county in the nation; four major malls lie within the county. Paramus in Bergen County, where three of the four major malls are located, has even more restrictive blue laws than the county itself, banning all type of work on Sundays except in grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, restaurants and other entertainment venues. I not only live in Bergen County, New Jersey, but I work in a store that is owned by Chassidic Jewish people. Since we are closed two hours before sundown on Friday and only are open on Saturday nights two hours after sundown, guess what? WE DO NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THE BLUE LAWS. And we do excellent business on Sundays., when we can sell anything. And working on Christmas Day is a hoot. People come in when we opn to buy toys, because apparently they just realize it’s Christmas (like there’s no advance warning about that). And after paying, some people tell us “You shouldn’t be open on Christmas.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/58 "2016-10-22T18:58:46Z")
Went to high school in the western suburbs of New Orleans and my graduation ceremony was in the city. Learned to drive a stick shift in the local warehouse district every Sunday morning. Wasn’t anybody around but me and my dad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044.md?page=2)