Certain Acts Prohibited on Sundays (and Thanksgiving Day): Every Texan knows that you can't buy alcohol before 10:00 a.m. on Sundays in Texas. See Texas Alcohol & Beverage Code sec. 105.01. But did you know that this same prohibition applies on Thanksgiving Day? That's right. Section 105.01(a)(1) of the TABC prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages before 10:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Recently, a friend of mine was shopping for a motor home on Sunday and was told by the sales person that he could look at the inventory but that the dealership was prohibited by law from selling or offering to sell inventory on Sundays. I told him that I thought the Texas Legislature had repealed most of the State's laws prohibiting labor on Sunday but it turns out, they missed this one.

Section 728.002 of the Texas Transportation Code provides that "[a] person may not, on consecutive days of Saturday and Sunday: (1) sell or offer for sale a motor vehicle; or (2) compel an employee to sell or offer for sale a motor vehicle."

In Gibson Products Co., Inc. v. State, 545 S.W.2d 128, (Tex. 1976), the Texas Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the so-called "Sunday closing laws." In Gibson, the Texas Supreme Court noted that "the principal plan of this statute...is to close most mercantile establishments on Sunday-Saturday being the better day for sales than Sunday. Allowing latitude for Sabbatarians and for some who prefer to tend only the Sunday trade, the Legislature thereby maintains the prevailing custom of people doing their serious shopping for clothing, furniture, automobiles, household and office appliances, and hardware on weekdays."

I don't know about you, but I do most of my "serious shopping" on the weekends--Sunday included. I think its time for the Texas Legislature to repeal Texas Transportation Code sec. 728.002.