Posted on 09/20/2021 1:15:09 PM PDT by CedarDave
A one-paragraph amendment to the state Legislature’s new, sweeping alcohol reform law gave owners of gas stations in McKinley County a choice: You can sell hard liquor or you can sell gas.
To Benjamin Gonzales, manager of the El Sabino’s grocery and gas station in Vanderwagen, it was a “no-brainer.”
“We stopped selling gas July 1, the day the new liquor law went into effect.”
The store is one of at least three in the county that covered its gas pumps in plastic in recent months, a direct response to the law, according to store employees, residents and county officials. The law prohibited gas stations from selling liquor in the county, so the stations stopped selling gas to circumvent the ban.
The choice to stop selling gas in rural parts of the county has stranded some motorists and added another inconvenience to life near the border of the Navajo Nation, residents said.
It also demonstrates the difficulty legislators face in crafting policy to help cut down on alcoholism and drunken driving in the area, both scourges that cost dozens of lives in the county each year.
State Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, who lobbied for the amendment, said the gas stations’ choice to close “wasn’t unexpected.” But he said it represents a choice owners made to put profits above an essential service.
One gas station in the county sells 80 gallons of vodka a day, Muñoz said. Gonzales said El Sabino station makes about $8,000 a day in hard liquor sales but just about $2,000 a day on gasoline.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Isn’t ethanol just moonshine with poison so you can’t drink it.
Well, and another way to look at it is that the price, and to an extent the margin, on goods is a numerical measurement of how essential the local market finds those good to be. If you can make more money selling booze than gas, it means booze is more essential to the buyers than gas is. Who’s George Munoz to decide?
Gus Fring can start selling gas at Los Pollos Hermanos.
Of course constituents laying face down in their own vomit usually vote democrat, so there is that going for mr legislator.
Did they just split the store?All they need is booth outside with an attendant and the clerk in the liquor store says - I don’t sell gas.
It’s a profit thing. Apparently nobody in the legislature understands the gross margin concept of owning a small retail store. Next they will probably not let liquor stores sell lottery tickets with a 1% margin. Thatll show em!!
What state is that College in?
They need an initiative to make it illegal for politicians to restrict sales of a legal substance. Time to limit the politicians instead of letting them limit the citizenry.
Who needs gas when everybody is driving an E.V.?
Seems like an easy fix. One wall and a separate door. Apply for a new address for the separate entrance and voila... Liquor at one entrance and a gas station at the other. Actually, I’ve seen it done in Texas. One side will have a beer license and the other will have a malt & liquor license.
Gallup 50% off city. Your rate may vary!
What's not clear is how a clerk inside the store is supposed to know whether a person paying at the pump is intoxicated. If that person paid inside to the clerk, or came inside to buy a pack of cigarettes, the clerk could tell if he was impaired. In the former, the clerk could deny the purchase while in the latter, selling the cigarettes would not be against the court's decision, but the clerk could observe and notify law enforcement that the person appeared drunk. In any case, the clerk has to be aware that many intoxicated persons can be violent if provoked and has to be aware that denial could cause injury to himself.
work around. Rent the pumps to some who then sells the gas.
Tesla opens sales, service, delivery center at Nambe Falls Travel Center
By Teya Vitu and Daniel Chacón
Sep 9, 2021 Updated Sep 10, 2021
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/tesla-opens-sales-service-delivery-center-at-nambe-falls-travel-center/article_de4716b2-1199-11ec-aafb-b3f8f913df09.html
So the price of booze went up slightly for “free” gas.
Gallup is the home town of Garden Deluxe “Wine”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ffbjaYnbc
We drove to a small town north of us that would sell beer on Sunday..and bot it.
Pulled around the back...had a drive thru windrow...took our money and shoved out a 6 pack..or two.
Scum Democrats always try to make someone feel guilty, if they don’t go along with their narrative.
= = =
Nope. If the alky buyers can’t buy gas, they can’t drive.
That is a responsible thing, right?
Looking out for the customer’s safety.
For that matter, unless the clerk watched the person who came into the store actually get out of the driver's seat, how the heck would he or she know?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.