North Dakota Weighs Lifting Sunday ‘Blue Law’

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota residents can order alcohol at a restaurant or bar late Sunday morning but must wait until afternoon to go shopping because of a ban that some legislators say no longer makes much sense.

Critics of the nation's strictest so-called blue law began another effort Monday to strip it from the books. Some such restrictions have existed since North Dakota became a state in 1889, stemming from fears that visiting a retail store on Sunday morning would compete with church and erode family values, leaving little time for rest.

A House committee began mulling the bill on Monday but took no immediate action. The sponsor, Rep. Pam Anderson, called it a "falsehood" that allowing Sunday morning sales would impact the number of people in the pews.