Laws without teeth muddy the waters about which rules we really have to follow. That ambiguity leads to other bad things — discriminatory enforcement, general disrespect for laws.

So you could say that what comes next hurts us a bit. But it has to be done.

It's time for a statewide mask mandate.

No, we don't want to see hefty fines or incarceration for barefaced citizens. But it's time to stop putting the burden of mask rules on businesses, employees and caretakers. It's time to stop asking Minnesota residents to consult their GPS and their news alerts to find out if they're in a Mask City or a Do What You Want City on any given day.

It's time for Minnesota leaders to finally mandate what the CDC recommends: masks for everyone in indoor public spaces.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is asking for such a move. Thousands of members of the Minnesota Medical Association signed a letter urging mandatory mask-wearing statewide in public indoor spaces. The Minnesota Nurses Association has called for the same.

But we still have that hot potato bouncing around, mostly to city councils. And we now have part-time retail workers who have effectively become bouncers, charged with confronting rule-breakers and convincing them to comply or getting them out of the store. That's no way to run a public health campaign.

Our state health officials and many political leaders including Gov. Tim Walz have been clear that they believe mask-wearing is a best practice for the time being. The rumors that wearing a mask will deprive generally healthy people of oxygen or make us ill have been debunked.

We know that requiring masks, like shoes and shirts, is not an unreasonable demand in return for the use of public spaces. And we know that masks won't hurt anyone to wear.

But here's the most compelling reason, to us: A statewide rule would help small-business owners, relieving the burden of enforcing a mask rule on their site at the risk of alienating some of their clientele. It would also relieve them from the worry that not instituting a mask rule for their workplace puts them in the line of a lawsuit should employees contract COVID-19 on the job.

So what is the holdup? It's time to do it.

FROM AN EDITORIAL IN THE ST. CLOUD TIMES