On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he will be suing the City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas for prohibiting firearms from the State Fair this year.
Around mid-August, Attorney General Ken Paxton gave a 15-day deadline for Fair Park to reverse its gun ban from the State Fair of Texas. Fair Park is within the City of Dallas, and state law permits gun owners to carry in open places.
He said that the prohibition represented an unlawful infringement on Texan's legal rights since Dallas and the State Fair have refused to comply with Ken Paxton's deadline.
“Municipalities cannot nullify state law nor can they avoid accountability by contracting official functions to nominally third parties,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense. I warned fifteen days ago that if they did not end their unlawful conduct I would see them in court, and now I will.”
The City of Dallas responded with this statement:
"The City of Dallas is aware of the lawsuit filed by the State of Texas and disagrees with the allegations against the City and interim city manager. The City was not involved in the State Fair of Texas’ announcement of its enhanced weapons policy. The State Fair of Texas is a private event operated and controlled by a private, non-profit entity and not the City."
The State Fair of Texas issued the following statement Friday morning:
"The State Fair of Texas will continue to prioritize providing a safe and secure environment for our millions of fairgoers, as well as our staff, vendors, and volunteers. As a private, not-for-profit organization leasing Fair Park for our annual State Fair, we believe we have the right to make this decision and maintain that it is the correct decision to protect the safety of our patrons. Due to pending litigation, we will make no further comments at this time."
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