Colorado Sunday Liquor Law

For those who are not familiar with the Colorado Alcohol Beverage Control laws, it is prohibited by law to buy liquor, wine, or beer stronger than 3.2% alcohol by volume on Sundays in Colorado. This has been the law in Colorado since the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933.

It is a silly law, to the point that you cannot take freshly brewed beer home, from one of our many fine micro-breweries, in a to-go container known as a growler. The only exception is for wine, which is corked at a table in a restaurant.

Every time the issue has been brought up at the state level, through the legislature or through the ballot initiative process, the liquor store owners have lobbied heavily against the repeal of the prohibition. It takes a moment to understand why.

Liquor stores also have a monopoly on liquor sales throughout the state, other than 3.2 beer. You cannot buy anything but 3.2 beer in a grocery or convenience store. So, if you want liquor, wine, or decent beer, you have to buy it from a liquor store. Due to this monopoly, the Sunday prohibition doesn't cost the liquor stores anything. Thirsty consumers will buy what they need on Saturday, or wait until Monday. The Sunday prohibition is therefore nothing but a free day off.

Of course, there is the religion thing. As if devout Christians througout the state would skip church service and rush to the liquor store to get themselves wasted on a Sunday morning. WWJD?

The following is a letter to the editor, from me, printed on January 22, 2008 in the Canon City Daily Record:

This week, the Colorado Senate is likely to consider repealing the Sunday liquor sales ban.

The Sunday liquor ban is an antiquated government regulation that restricts consumer freedom of choice. I understand the concern from liquor store owners that the Sunday ban gives them an automatic day off. However, it should not the province of the Colorado Legislature to grant or deny days off to independent business owners. Business owners should have the choice to be open or closed on any day they wish. Likewise, consumers should have the choice to buy legal goods and services on any day they wish.

If the rigor of owning a liquor store and being open seven days a week is too great, there is nothing preventing a liquor store owner from selling his business and doing something else that doesn’t require the same time commitment. By law, liquor store owners must be adults, it’s time they started acting like it.