So some place in NJ is the last place in the country to ban Sunday shopping? And not the south? Weird.
Many places in New England have much more stringent alcohol laws then the south.
I've heard that too. Is it like a holdover from the past or something?
Consider where the puritans were from.
Oh, ok.
And, generally, nobody ever bothered repealing the laws; they were (and are) totally used to them.
My college was located in Somerville, MA, which bans any public display of alcohol, even in a closed container, outside of a store. I think that was the law; something like that. Mr. Moderate lives there now, so he might know the actual law. I never cared because I don't drink, but apparently the police enforced it.
I think that law is pretty common. I think it's primarily aimed at the vagrants and the homeless. (We have a mild problem, though no where near as bad as Cambridge or Boston.)
Boston has a related law where you can have liquor out on the street in patio seating, but you have to be ordering food at the same time to get it.
Massachusetts is making steady progress in reforming its alcohol laws, but it hit a glitch last November. Stores can now sell alcohol on Sundays (but not on the Fourth of July, regardless of whether or not the store selling it is open). But supermarkets can only choose three of their locations statewide to sell beer and wine. Just three.
It's so f***ing backwards, and a referendum was on the ballot last November to ditch that stupid law and allow alcohol to be sold in any supermarket, not just the three most profitable locations.
And of course, since Massachusetts is so f***ing backwards (as I said), it voted the damn thing down by a huge margin because some friggin' police chief from Somerville (sigh) cut a statewide radio ad saying it was some retarded slippery slope towards having hard liquor sold to kids in convienience stores.
I'm just glad the Trader Joes near me in Cambridge is one of the three in the state that can sell wine. Mm, three dollar Charles Shaw.
