Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has upped the ante in a recent legal fight against the City of Dallas and the Texas State Fair by filing a petition with the Texas Supreme Court to block the fair’s ban on firearms.
Paxton’s office continues to argue that the ban unlawfully infringes on the rights of licensed gun owners in the state.
The attorney general’s most recent legal action comes after the State Fair announced its intention to enforce the policy prohibiting people with open carry permits from bringing firearms onto Fair Park grounds during the annual fair.
The ban was enacted after a shooting incident at the 2023 State Fair of Texas, which resulted in three injuries and prompted an evacuation of the fairgrounds.
As reported by The Dallas Express, in August 2024, Paxton warned the City of Dallas and the State Fair that their proposed ban was unlawful. Paxton’s office then sent a 15-day notice to the City calling for the ban’s repeal, threatening legal action if Dallas failed to align with state law and did not reverse the ban.
After refusing to reconsider the ban, Paxton’s office amplified his legal fight, filing a lawsuit to prevent its enforcement. However, a district court denied his request for a temporary injunction, leading him to appeal to the 15th Court of Appeals.
The appellate court also declined to provide an immediate compromise to the attorney general’s issues with the ban, prompting Paxton to escalate the matter to the state’s highest court, the Texas Supreme Court.
“The City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas cannot nullify state law by banning firearms. And a government entity cannot contract away our rights by offloading this policy to a private entity. Texans who are licensed to carry have a right to defend themselves, and I will fight every step of the way to protect it,” Paxton said via a press release published on September 25.
The State Fair of Texas, which operates under a lease agreement with the City of Dallas, has cited safety concerns and the prior shooting incident as the reason for the continued ban.
However, in the most recent legal filing, Paxton argues that such policies undermine the state’s law protecting individuals’ right to carry firearms in public places.
In the past, those who held License To Carry (LTC) cards were permitted to carry concealed firearms inside the fairgrounds.
According to a recent report, 70 Republican members of the Texas House wrote to the State Fair of Texas, requesting that the gun ban be reevaluated, per Fox 4 KDFW.
“Allowing Texans to exercise, lawfully, their Second Amendment rights increases safety. And that’s why I was appalled to see and really disappointed to see the State Fair of Texas take this action to ban Texans from exercising their Second Amendment rights on the fairgrounds. If their goal was to maximize safety, this actually reduces safety. It does the exact opposite of that,” Representative Brian Harrison (R-Waxahachie) told Fox 4.