Rep. Curry Todd
It's like saying the sun rises in the east. It's not exactly news, but here it is anyway: A state legislator has been caught lying to reporters. We're all sitting around here in the Legislative Plaza pressroom listening to the recording of Rep. Curry Todd saying he'd never do what he just did this afternoon. Todd, R-Collierville, has been insisting all along he'd never vote for his guns-in-bars bill unless it included an 11 o'clock curfew. Innocently batting his eyes, he has claimed his only purpose is to make it legal to carry handguns into family restaurants that happen to serve alcohol. It's a matter of convenience for handgun permit holders, he says. But to eliminate the curfew would introduce guns into saloons and roadhouses, and that would be irresponsible, he says. Here's the Q&A from about a month ago:
Q: Would you vote for a measure that didn't have the time limits on it? Todd: I'm not going to vote for a measure now that doesn't have the time frame on it because that opens it back up to bars. You sell, you know, eggs and pickled sausage and have vending machines in there, pool tables and shuffleboards. I've been in them all my life. I know what they are, and I know what a legitimate restaurant is that actually has a bar in it.
This afternoon, Todd voted with the majority on the House-Senate conference committee to accept the Senate version of the bill, which kills the curfew.
