Sunday Alcohol Sales Debate

Introduction
Each year, a new round of a seemingly age-old debate takes place at the Georgia Capitol, and 2011 has been no exception. Should Georgia lawmakers end the Sunday ban on the sale of alcohol in stores? Currently Georgia is one of only three states that prohibit the retail sale of liquor, wine, and beer on Sunday. Despite this outdated regulation the state does surprisingly allow alcohol to be sold on Sundays at bars and restaurants. In this video posted on foxnews.com, reporter Elizabeth Prann debates on why or why not the ban on Sunday alcohol sales should be lift. She interviews few supporters of the bill and some that are completely against it.

Paraphrase
Reporter Elizabeth Prann says "I wanna lay down both sides of the argument for you," but I think she failed to do that. The title claims for it to be a debate but the video just keeps on trying to shift you to the supporting side of the bill. There was only one part of the video where you actually get to hear the opposing side of the argument which happens to last for only couple of seconds. At around 1:10, you hear an opposing side of the argument claiming the approval of the bill may result in a greater safety risk.

Member of the Georgia Christian Coalition: "The more alcohol consumed, the greater the safety risk. But it seems like Sunday would become just another saturday."

Member of the house: "Sunday is the best day of the week for going to buy groceries and of course Sunday sales would certainly help their revenue."

Prann then continues to support the bill saying "major grocery chains, like Kroger and Publix, say that 25% of shoppers do their shopping on Sundays; it's very convenient for them to pic up a six pack or a bottle of wine on Sundays" She doesn't mention the fact that alcohol sales are at its highest amount of the week on Saturdays. Liquor store owners claim that since they don't sell alcohol on Sundays and are closed, their shoppers buy them in advance on Saturday instead. Although other states, that lifted their Sunday alcohol ban recently, claim that they experienced increased in revenues on Sundays sales, they also mention that on the other hand their Saturday sales have also decreased. However, apparently that isn't the primary reason for the lift on the ban, according to Governor Deal.

Governor Deal: "even though it MAY bring in, which would be welcome of course because we're in a difficult financial situation as you know, that was NOT the motivation--"

Him being said that, Prann continuous centralize on economic growth and tax revenue. It leaves you wondering, after all what exactly is the primary reason behind this? But, unfortunately the video never mentions ANY other reason behind it besides for a growth in tax revenue, which, according to, Governor Deal, clearly "was NOT the motivation."

Formalizing their entire argument: 
P1: 25 perfect of [grocery] shoppers do their shopping on Sundays.
P2: States that lifted the ban showed an average of 5 to 7 percent increase in Sunday tax revenues.
C: Therefore, its more convenient for everyone to pick up a six park or a bottle of wine on Sundays.

Analysis
From this argument, it is clear that Prann is commiting a appeal to ignorance fallacy. She keeps tracking back to the supporting side of the bill and doesn't pay much attention to the opposing arguments such as safety issues, like DUI, increase in crimes, from liquor stores being open an extra day, such as theft, shoplifting, and robbery. There are also many other points being ignored such as, just because people will then allowed to purchase alcohol on Sundays as well, doesn't mean they will buy more, it simply means they might now buy their liquor on Sundays instead of buying it Saturday as they do now. Not only does Prann ignore the opposing points, but she also ignores what Governor Deal said about how an increase in tax revenue was NOT their motivation in the first place, and keeps centralizing on tax revenue benefits of lifting this ban. Prann ignores everything, including the opposing side, major premises, and also the actual questions being asked by the anchor, and focuses on her own argument based which are based on weak premises.