We are the Occupied Territories here. Gives me a chance to chortle as I bring my plastic bags, purchased at Amazon for $15, to the store. I sometimes tease about selling them to shoppers out in the parking lot. Of course, there are Free Zones - one about 3 miles from here - where they give you plastic bags! It’s very confusing, EXTREMELY STUPID.
Whenever I go to the sister city of the People's Republic of Santa Monica, also known as Pasadena (which used to be a very conservative town), I always say 'either bag it for free, or you can put these things back on the shelves.' Only one time has a store re-shelved the products, the rest of the time they simply bagged it and moved on. The only place that actually tried to defend the law was a sole checker at Bevmo of all places, when I rejected her option of carrying a bottle of whiskey out to the car outside of a bag. I told her she could refund the purchase, she refused and I went and found a manager who provided a bag and a coupon for a future visit.
It costs stores far more to put items back on the shelves than it does to make customers happy. I know it is a bit spiteful to play these games with stores, but so what; they should have been on the front line fighting against these stupid laws in the first place.