The City of Vicksburg’s decision to curb alcohol sales after 2 a.m. at local bars is a good middle ground between the statewide standard and a program currently in place that allows certain establishments to sell beer and liquor 24 hours a day.
Mayor George Flaggs Jr. announced Friday that the Mississippi Department of Revenue gave the OK for pulling resort status for Beechwood Inn on East Clay Street, Monsour’s at the Biscuit Company and the Upper End on Washington Street and LD’s Kitchen on Mulberry St.
Those bars are now legally allowed to serve alcohol around the clock, but we believe 2 a.m. is a reasonable closing time.
The 2 a.m. last call is actually lenient compared to state regulations that require most bars across the state to shut their doors at midnight.
The earlier closing time allows bars to stay open later than the state average, but not all night and into the wee hours of the morning when the crowd can sometimes get a little our of control, according to police data.
We agree with Vicksburg police Chief Walter Armstrong that the earlier closing time is a public safety matter. Armstrong told us that his officers had responded to 158 calls at bars and nightclubs over a six-month period.
“I think this is going to help us with crime after 2 a.m. We have noticed a significant volume of calls at nightspots after 2 a.m. We believe this will help put that to an end,” Armstrong said.
We are interested to see how much of an impact the earlier closing time makes on crime rates and the number of drunk drivers on our roads.
Casinos will not be affected by the earlier closing time and will still be allowed to sell and serve alcohol around the clock. This might rub some bar owners the wrong way, but the casinos which play a vital role in our economy, have hotels on site.
All four of them — Lady Luck, Riverwalk, Ameristar and DiamondJacks — can simply sell an overnight stay to someone whose had too much to drink by 4 a.m. Many of the customers drinking at that hour are already planning to stay at the casino hotel anyway.
But in six months, if bar owners can show city officials that shaving the hours off their service times has hurt business and not positively impacted the crime rate, it might be time to reconsider.