Cheers to Freedom

Today, for the first time ever, my wife and I purchased alcohol on a Sunday in Colorado. This is the first Sunday in my lifetime, and I believe since Prohibition, that this particular "capitalist act between consenting adults" has been legal. As we drove home, I said, "Amazingly, the sky is still in its place."

And it took a Democratic legislature to repeal the blue laws on Sunday liquor sales. The Republicans, who sometimes pretend they favor free markets, fought the reform for years. The Republicans seem determined to do everything imaginable to irritate people and lose elections.

Appropriately, we shopped at All American Discount Liquors. My wife and I purchased vermouth, then went home and cheered to freedom over martinis.

I don't know whether Sunday hours will be popular; many stores might choose to close, anyway. But that's not the point. The point is that willing stores and willing customers have the right to conduct businesses, on their terms, not the terms dictated by politicians.

That's one small sip for liberty.

Republicans Against Free Markets

Those who insist upon being pissed off at State Senator Shawn Mitchell, even when they have no good reason to be, may be pleased that I have discovered a real reason to be annoyed with him.

Roger Fillion reported for the February 26 Rocky Mountain News:

The Colorado Senate gave the final thumbs up Monday to a bill that would allow liquor stores to open Sundays, a big step toward scrapping the decades-old ban on Sunday booze sales.

The measure now goes to the House, where it's expected to face tougher resistance. The bill, SB 82, cleared the Senate in a 23-8 vote.

I decided to look up the "no" votes:



Following is a list of the senators who voted against the measure, along with their party affiliation:

Bill Cadman, Republican
Jim Isgar, Democrat
Andrew McElhany, Republican
Shawn Mitchell, Republican
Scott Renfroe, Republican
David Schultheis, Republican
Jack Taylor, Republican
Tom Wiens, Republican

Are you noticing any trends here?

It's not like this is an ambiguous issue. Business owners and their customers have a moral right to do business on mutually beneficial terms, on any day that they like. The (partial) ban on Sunday liquor sales violates free markets and freedom of association (and also the separation of church and state, given that the Blue Laws are rooted in religious restrictions).

So the next time that a Republican lies to you and tell you that Republicans are for free markets, remind the Republican that it took a Democratic legislature to move seriously to repeal to the Sunday booze ban, and seven of the eight senate votes to maintain the ban were cast by Republicans.

Remember that the Republican Party is the Other Party of Big Government.

Bye-Bye Blue Laws?

It seems likely that the Democrats will succeed at what Republicans never even attempted: repeal the Blue Law that prohibits Sunday liquor sales at stores. (I have heard of no attempt to remove the restrictions on Sunday auto sales.) While Democrats usually climb all over themselves to impose more economic controls, this time they seem ready to do the unthinkable: expand economic liberty.

Roger Fillion writes for the Rocky Mountain News:

SB-082, introduced by Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, would permit liquor stores to open Sundays. Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., bar Sunday sales of distilled spirits. ...

Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, is expected to offer a bill soon that would permit grocery stores such as Safeway and King Soopers to sell regular beer and wine six days a week, except Sundays. Stores that qualify must have a pharmacy and food sales that make up at least 51 percent of gross sales.

The reason that the bill is likely to pass this year, notes Fillion, is that "Colorado liquor store owners have reversed their long-standing opposition to Sunday liquor sales." But of course liquor stores are opposed to allowing free-market competition at grocery stores; instead, liquor stores want to rely upon existing protectionist legislation to squash competition. So any grocery-store reform is unlikely. Still, I'll take half a loaf this year, though I'll continue to advocate economic liberty across the board.

According to the article, many liquor stores now want Sunday sales for two reasons. First, they think they can make money on Sunday. Second, they think that, by offering customers better service, they'll reduce support for the grocery-store bill:

"If it's what the consumer wants and it's going there, there's no use fighting it," said Scott Robinson, co-owner of Wilbur's Total Beverage in Fort Collins, summing up the general attitude. "We'll make more money being open seven days a week."

Robinson also conceded that support of the Sunday sales legislation could help liquor store owners head off the grocery store bill.

"We'd rather be meeting the needs of the consumer when that one shows up," he said.

Yet, while the article talks about "convenience," jobs, and revenues, not once does the article mention the central issue: individual rights. Stores and their customers have the right to do business on mutually agreeable terms, without political interference. Of course, Democrats are afraid to talk about individual rights in the economic sphere, because then they might actually have to take economic liberty seriously.