In their arguments for ending North Carolina’s ban on Sunday liquor sales at ABC stores, advocates of repeal have largely focused on an estimated $5 million to $10 million revenue gain if Sunday sales were allowed.
The state and local governments can use every drop of revenue available these days. However, higher profit isn’t the overriding reason the state should revise the Sunday ban. Do it for the sake of regulatory consistency. There’s simply no logical reason to retain a statewide ban on Sunday ABC sales when you can buy beer and wine on Sundays at other stores or at restaurants and taverns. While some may argue that Sunday sales should be banned on religious grounds, to help keep the Sabbath holy, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that such “blue laws” are unconstitutional unless they have a secular purpose. As much as we might wish that the Sunday ban saves lives by deterring drunken driving or discouraging alcohol-fueled cases of domestic abuse, there’s little evidence a Sunday sanction is more effective than one that might be imposed on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. As one reader commented in response to our online question about Sunday liquor sales, “Not everyone who buys beer, wine or liquor is an abuser of it, and having no liquor sales on Sunday doesn’t stop those who are alcoholics from buying and abusing it anyway.”
Let’s also note that the legislation, as proposed by Sen. Tony Rand (D-Cumberland), doesn’t mandate that ABC stores must open on Sunday. It would give local elected officials and ABC boards the option of opening their stores or not, taking into consideration local mores, political pressure and whether the added expense of extended operating hours would be justified by the additional revenue. As the county’s ban on alcohol sales at the Rowan History Museum (and other county facilities) suggests, this may be a locale where the idea of Sunday liquor sales doesn’t go down well, particularly when it’s the state, rather than privately owned businesses, that stands to profit.
But even if some counties want to keep their ABC stores bottled up on Sundays, that’s no reason to prohibit other counties from having the option to approve Sunday sales. Local choice has proved an effective mechanism for letting individual counties and municipalities regulate other alcohol sales. It’s time to extend the same choice to Sunday liquor.
– – –
Visit our Web site to add your online comments to editorials, letters to the editors and columns. Go to www.salisburypost.com and click on “Opinion.”