Georgia's age-old, all-out ban on buying beer, wine and liquor at shops on Sunday has met its end.
Early poll results had voters in most of the 51 metro Atlanta jurisdictions giving a resounding yes Tuesday to seven days of package sales in referendums, continuing the slow dissolution of a blue law dating to the late 1800s, one of the last restraints on Sunday consumption
But at least one city said no -- Clayton County's Forest Park. Mayor Corine Deyton said it was the right choice.
"That's the Lord's day, in my opinion," said Deyton, a Sunday school teacher whose son is a Baptist music minister. "If you can't do without alcohol one day a week, there's something bad wrong with you."
But, for the most part, voters in metro Atlanta sided against Deyton on Tuesday.
“The results of today’s election,” Georgia Food Industry Association lobbyist Kathy Kuzava said, “have shown that the vast majority of voters overwhelmingly support the opportunity to purchase all of their groceries, including beer and wine, seven days per week.”
Don't go dropping 12-packs on the checkout conveyer belt just yet. Stores that can offer the sales will be spotty throughout the area, and in places where voters approved, effective dates will vary, ranging from the second Sunday after election results get certified to perhaps as late as February.
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/sunday-alcohol-sales-prove-1220719.html
