More Arkansas Liquor Laws...Really?

City politicians in Little Rock, AR are currently contemplating putting more limits on what size liquor can be sold and what hours liquor stores can be open. You can read more about it here. Unfortunately, this is another case of the politicians wanting to look like they're doing some good, but actually doing more harm.

I don't want people getting on the road drunk, but if people want to buy alcohol and enjoy it at home, they should be able to buy it anywhere that wants to sell it, any time of the week. I live in Yell County, which is a dry county. For those lucky souls who don't know what a dry county is, it's a county where it's illegal to sell liquor (you can still drink it here though). However, it doesn't stop people in this county from getting liquor. They just burn a bunch of gas and take their money to other counties, or out of the state, where it is legal to buy it. Liquor stores in the state are also now allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays. These religious blue laws, first off, shouldn't be allowed since they're RELIGIOUS LAWS! Besides that, they aren't really stopping people from getting drunk on Sundays. None of these laws are going to make people who drink stop drinking, or drinking and driving.

Not only do these laws not prevent drinking and drunk driving, but they can actually make it worse. Dry counties make drunk drivers drive further to get more liquor, increasing the risk of an accident. I'm not defending people who drink and drive and there's no safe distance to drive while drunk. However, some people are going to be stupid enough to do it and the longer they are at the wheel, the higher the odds get that they're gonna get in an accident. While the stores in LR might close down, stores outside the city will still be open, making people drive further to get their liquor. Instead of staggering down the sidewalk to the store, they'll get in a car, drunk, and try to drive to another county.

It's time Arkansas wakes up to reality and start saving some lives instead of living in a fantasy world. If you're an Arkie like me, ask yourself the following questions. How many of our friends and neighbors have been killed because some drunk guy had to drive 30 miles to get more liquor when he could have just walked to the store to get it, if it were legal to buy it there at that time? Are the current laws really stopping people who want to drink, or get drunk?

And with that, I give you one of the greatest songs ever wrote...