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Shop Owners Revive Fight Against Blue Laws

Liquor Store Owners Say Laws Drive Customers Over Borders

POSTED: 1:31 am EST January 31, 2009

A group of liquor store owners have revived the fight for Sunday liquor sales in the state.

Connecticut is one of only three states that enforce the blue law.

Liquor store owners in Enfield and other border towns claim that they laws cost them a lot of money because customers can drive over the border seven days a week to buy booze.

"Why can't we just stay in our hometown and go to our hometown package stores?" asked Cassie Camby, of Enfield.

Freshwater Package Store owner Dominic Alaimo is leading to fight to clear the blue laws from Connecticut's books.

Alaimo strongly supports several proposed bills that would give Connecticut liquor store owners the option to open on Sundays.

"We're the business people, let us open," he said. "It's anti-business what they're doing. It's the 21st century, it doesn't work."

Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the week, but Alaimo said because the state prohibits Sunday alcohol sales, Connecticut shoppers are driving over the boarder to Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, where Sunday sales are legal.

State Sen. Thomas Colapietro said he thinks that if stores have the option, smaller establishments won't survive because people will prefer the stores that stay open all week long.

"I don't believe for one minute the state's going to make any more revenue, so why make people work when they don't want to -- they're legitimate business people," he said.

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