FRANKFORT - Kentucky supermarkets are taking the battle for liquor and wine in their stores to the people in an effort to defeat a bill that would ban such sales, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The grocery stores are handing out fliers to shoppers asking them to contact their lawmakers about House Bill 310. A group of supermarkets ran full-page advertisements urging lawmakers to oppose the bill.

The House Licensing and Occupations Committee approved the bill with only one dissenting vote, and the proposal now moves on to the full House. Independent liquor stores are pushing the bill€™s passage behind its group, Fighting Alcohol Consumption by Teens (FACT), which posits that liquor and wine should not be on the shelves of stores that minors frequent.

Fueling the battle is a decision last summer by U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II of Louisville that said a state law banning convenience stores and supermarkets from selling wine and liquor was unconstitutional. However, Heyburn put his ruling on hold until legislators could come to a decision on the issue.

The House bill would render the court ruling obsolete. The measure would allow grocery stores and newly constructed drugstores to offer wine and liquor only through a separate entrance to a connected building.

The Kentucky Grocers Association and Kentucky Association of Convenience Stores opposes the bill. "We simply believe retailers like grocery stores should have the option to sell wines and spirits in Kentucky as they do in 35 other states. It's a matter of fairness," said Ted Mason, executive director of the groups.