Rachel E. Stassen-Berger
Pioneer Press
Advocates of allowing Minnesota liquor store sales on Sundays put together a fun little video to promote their point recently.
"Here are five totally ridiculous, completely real Minnesota laws," the narrator, who identifies herself as Sarah, says in the video.
Except the "laws" the video claims are "completely real" completely aren't.
The video says that "every man in Brainerd, Minnesota, must have a beard." But a city official and the local historical society said that is not on the books. It once was a law but is no longer.
The video also says that in Duluth, no pets should sleep in bakeries. But a check of Duluth's code and a call to the city clerk's office confirm no such law.
It further claims that in Minnesota, it is illegal to "tease" skunks.
A search of Minnesota statutes for the words "tease," "skunk" and skunks' scientific name "Mephitidae" comes up with no confirmation the law exists.
(Although it did confirm it is illegal to "Import into or export out of this state any live skunk, for sale, barter, exchange or gift for any purpose whatsoever," so you might want to take that Wisconsin skunk present off your wish list.)
The video also claims: "Hamburgers shall not be eaten in St. Cloud on Sundays."
"That's not real, is it?" a man says in the video.
"No, it's totally real," the female narrator responds.
But the man in the video is correct.
It's not real, a St. Cloud official and a search of city ordinances confirmed.
Asked via email for any documentation of the laws the video alleged were on the books, the MN Consumers First Alliance, which put together the video, responded:
"When we created the video, we searched the Internet and found several links that reference these laws."
Questioned whether the group did further research on the claims it made in the video, the group added a disclaimer to the text accompanying the video.
"We researched various public websites that track outdated laws and ordinances as sources for the video but have added a disclaimer to the video that states 'some of the laws in the video may no longer be in effect,' " MN Consumers First Alliance responded in an email.
To watch the liquor sales ad
Click Here. 
