Fair Goers Join Ken Paxton in Suing the State Fair of Texas for Allegedly Violating Their Gun Rights

DALLAS, Texas (TEXAS TRIBUNE) – Three fairgoers have joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a lawsuit against the State Fair of Texas and the city of Dallas over the fair’s policy prohibiting the use of all firearms at its facilities.

Monday’s filing is Paxton’s latest maneuver in the ongoing battle over the State Fair and the gun ban. In September, the day before the event began, the Texas Supreme Court rejected Paxton’s request to overturn the rule, saying it had no role in “deciding whether the State Fair made a wise decision” after a Dallas Circuit Court judge allowed carrying a weapon. prohibition to stand.

Paxton filed an update naming new plaintiffs in his current case in Dallas Circuit Court, which is expected to hold another hearing next year.

In it, Paxton accuses the State Fair and city officials of violating a state law that prohibits most government agencies from banning guns on their property. Paxton also claims officials violated the constitutional gun rights of fairgoers Max Yusola, Tracy Martin and Alan Crider. They are seeking up to $1 million in civil damages and allowing people to carry guns on the fairgrounds.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Paxton said in a press release that he would continue to press the issue “substantially to support Texans’ ability to defend themselves.”

Dallas owns Fair Park, where the 24-day event is held annually, but the nonprofit State Fair of Texas operates the park and various city buildings and trails on the property under a 25-year agreement between the two organizations. A week before the hearing in Dallas Circuit Court, Paxton withdrew an eight-year-old legal opinion that would have allowed private nonprofits to ban guns on land they lease from the city.

Paxton continues to argue that because Dallas owns Fair Park, the nonprofit’s policy change violates state law, which allows licensed gun owners to carry guns in places owned or leased by government entities unless otherwise prohibited by state law, according to Paxton’s lawsuit. Texas law establishes that schools and courtrooms are considered gun-free zones and allows others, such as amusement parks or educational institutions, to set their own gun bans.

In a letter to the interim city manager over the summer, Paxton acknowledged that some buildings on the Fair Park property, such as the Cotton Bowl and other buildings used for training events, are places where firearms are prohibited by state law.

“However, all or the vast majority of Dallas’ 277-acre Fair Park is not a gun-free environment,” Paxton wrote.

Dallas city officials disagreed with Paxton’s allegations, explaining that city officials were not involved in the State Fair’s decision to implement the gun ban.

“The State Fair of Texas is a private event run and controlled by a private nonprofit organization and not the city,” a Dallas spokesman said in a statement.

Fair officials say they could enforce the gun ban as a private, nonprofit organization.

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