Bunker Hill ? A Wilson Lake bait shop owner is circulating a petition to force the question of whether to allow Sunday liquor sales in rural Russell County onto the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election.

Larry Calvary, who opened CC’s near Minooka Park with his wife this summer, said the summer-only bait shop and convenience store has been losing business to Wilson, a town in Ellsworth County just east of the Russell County line that already allows Sunday liquor sales.

“The way I look at it, it’s our biggest business,” Calvary said. “We’re at the lake. We have two days a week, basically, where we have good business: Saturday and Sunday. I can’t sell one of my biggest sellers on one of those days.”

Whether to allow Sunday liquor sales is a hot topic across the state, and several places are considering putting it to a vote in November.

At least 54 communities, including Lawrence, have allowed the sale of liquor on Sundays since a law that restricted such sales was changed in 2005. Many other communities – including Wichita, the state’s largest city – have kept their bans.

The new law permits liquor retailers to be open from noon to 8 p.m. Sundays as well as Labor Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. They still must close on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

While some visitors to Wilson Lake simply buy alcoholic beverages in advance, Calvary said those who go out of their way on Sunday also are costing the county tax revenue.

Russell County Commissioner Steve Boxberger said the petition is only for the unincorporated areas of the county and would not affect the city of Russell, which will continue to prohibit Sunday liquor sales.

“This isn’t going to pull people from Russell to buy beer from us,” Calvary said. “It just makes it for people at the lake, so they don’t have to go so far.”