A Dallas County District Court Judge ruled that the State Fair of Texas could ban firearms during this month’s event.
When it was announced that the Texas State Fair would be “gun-free,” it shocked the citizens of the state. The Lone Star State is a gun-friendly state, so when the decision was announced, Texas State Attorney Ken Paxton stepped in and demanded the ban be rescinded. The City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas refused to accept the AG’s demands.
That refusal caused Paxton to sue the City of Dallas and the Texas State Fair. He claimed that the city was breaking state law by banning guns. Under the law, no place that the state owns or rents can ban firearms unless it is in one of a very few locations, such as a school or courthouse.
Guns have not been banned at the Texas State Fair in the past. This year, they are banned due to an incident at last year’s fair where a gun was discharged. Alex Dubeau, an administrative law investigator with the attorney general’s office, said that after reviewing the lease, he determined that the State Fair could not ban guns because of last year’s fair incident.
“They had allowed firearms previously, and I see that all of a sudden they’re not because of an incident that happened from an unlicensed gun holder,” he said. “So, the unlicensed gun holder committed a crime last year, and now this year, they punish license holders by not allowing them to defend themselves.”
The City of Dallas, which owns the Fair Park, claims it had nothing to do with banning firearms at the fair. The city blamed the private non-profit business that runs the fair. Currently, there is a 25-year lease to run the fair awarded to the private non-profit company.
“The City was not involved in the State Fair of Texas’ announcement of its enhanced weapons policy,” a Dallas spokesperson said in a statement. “The State Fair of Texas is a private event operated and controlled by a private, non-profit entity and not the City.”
Dallas said that since a private non-business runs the fair, it could ban firearms. They argued that it didn’t matter if the city owned the Fair Park. The lawyers said the Texas State Fair could set any rule it wanted. The AG believed that since the government owned the land, an outside entity’s wishes didn’t override the Texas State Law.
The non-profit was set up to run the Texas State Fair. It doesn’t do anything else but the event. Whether that makes the Texas State Fair a private event is up for debate, but after two hours of arguments, Judge Emily Tobolowsky decided firearms could be banned.
State Fair president Mitchell Glieber celebrated the legal victory.
“We’re just ready to turn our attention to the State Fair of Texas – eight days away from opening, we’re ready to go and hoping that we can keep our folks as safe as humanly possible, that’s the goal,” Glieber said.
It is unclear if the Attorney General’s office will appeal the court’s decision. Paxton will only have days to decide and file the appeal. The Texas State Fair kicks off on Friday, September 27.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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