A bill introduced into the NC Senate on Wednesday would allow restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages before noon Sundays, if approved. Before a restaurant could do so, they would need local government approval, according to NC Senate Bill 155.
The bill was introduced on Wednesday by Republican Senator Rick Gunn of Burlington, Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, a Democrat from Raleigh, and Republican Senator Kathy Harrington from Gastonia. The bill is named the Economic and Job Growth for NC Distilleries Act.
Senate Bill 155 allows a county or municipality to adopt an ordinance allowing a licensed restaurant to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption beginning at 10 a.m. on Sundays. The bill also allows for “the holder of a distillery permit issued under G.S. 18B-1105 may obtain a spirituous liquor special event permit allowing the permittee to give free tastings of its spirituous liquors at ABC stores, trade shows, conventions, shopping malls, street festivals, holiday festivals, agricultural festivals, balloon races, local fund-raisers, and other similar events approved by the Commission.”
Alex Munroe, owner of Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery, said “We are open for brunch every Sunday starting at 10:30 a.m. In our area, I have found that we don’t have many requests for alcohol before lunch time. Not just on Sundays but every day of the week. So I don’t think the proposed bill would have much impact on us either way. However, I believe that it’s up to the individual rather than the state to decide wether a person can drink alcohol on Sunday morning or not.”
Munroe, who also owns a distillery, said he would also be for the bill because it would allow him to offer testing of his whiskeys at ABC stores.
Pastor Cameron McGill, Vice-President of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and serves as Senior Pastor of Dublin First Baptist Church/Lake Church, said, “I would urge Christians to contact their representatives and urge them to oppose any measures that make alcohol more accessible.”
He added, “As one who grew up when there was a bleu law that respected Sunday as a day of worship, I have been saddened to see Sundays become less reverent and this would even further bring a shadow upon what is historically in our nation, the Lord’s Day.”
Pastor McGill said every family in North Carolina has experienced the negative effects of alcohol. “I can’t imagine as a husband and father, wanting alcohol to be more readily available. The only thing this bill would accomplish would be to enable someone to start drinking earlier on Sunday which would lead to an increase in alcohol-related incidents.”
About Author
