Each
week NorthSide Opinions asks readers to comment on a topic in the news.
This week we feature response to the question: Should metro Atlanta
stores sell alcohol on Sundays?
Background: The state legislature might consider this session
whether to allow sales of alcohol from stores. The Georgia Senate on
Tuesday overwhelmingly approved selling beer on Sundays at Gwinnett
County's new baseball stadium and letting limo services offer liquor to
customers.
Senators made no move Tuesday to allow a vote on Sunday alcohol
sales at grocery and convenience stores, but supporters said they hope
one of the Senate bills that passed will be amended in the House to
include Sunday sales at stores.
Let the people have their say
My answer to that question is an unequivocal "Yes."
It's ridiculous that you can legally drink alcohol on Sundays all day long, but you can't purchase it [at a store]. Dumb!
This question should be decided by the voters. A vote should not be
suppressed by legislative committee heads. And, the vote should not be
vetoed by the governor.
The people deserve to be heard.
MATTHEW CHESTNUT, Roswell
Lift smoke screen, allow Sunday sales
It is time that Georgia [gave] voters a choice on this issue. I am a
busy professional with little extra time in my schedule. I often go to
Publix or Costco on Sunday afternoon for the weekly groceries and
gather everything I might need for the following week including the
next weekend, with the exception of beer or wine. Why should I make an
additional trip to the store ( have you seen the lines in Costco when
busy?) for one item —- beer or wine. This is a waste of my time and
resources.
The religious angle is something the politicians are hiding behind.
It's really only a smoke screen for the liquor stores, distributors and
other retailers that fear they might lose sales if sales of wine and
beer were channeled through grocery stores and convenience stores.
These hidden interest groups should be exposed and the real issues should be addressed.
The metro Atlanta area, with 5 million-plus people, deserves better than [Gov.] Sonny Perdue and his Perry, Ga., reasoning!
MITCH McCLEARY, Dunwoody
Alcohol law one more sign Georgia is backward
The upholding of any law that has a religious meaning behind it,
such as no alcohol sales on Sunday, defies separation of church and
state as granted by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Sunday is
just another day in a secular society and any restriction based simply
on the day of the week is indefensible. There are hundreds of
non-Christian religions that worship on days other than Sunday and
there are many citizens of Georgia that don't worship any supernatural
being on Sunday or any other day.
The ability to purchase alcohol in a restaurant or bar, but not in a
retail store to enjoy at home, also promotes drunk driving. If a person
really wants to drink he is forced to go outside of his home, usually
in a motor vehicle and imbibe at a bar.
The law just doesn't make any sense in a reasonable, free-thinking,
secular society. This law, along with praying for rain on the capitol
steps, and many other examples continue to show the rest of the county
what a backward state Georgia is.
DAVID DRISCOLL, Johns Creek
