Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Officials with the State Fair of Texas are coming under further fire for their announced carry ban at this year’s fair following 71 House Republicans and Republican nominees putting pressure on them to back off the ill-conceived idea.

Last week, State Fair officials, in collaboration with law enforcement, announced the updated policy banning all firearms, including those carried by licensed holders, from the fairgrounds. This decision marks a significant shift from previous years when licensed concealed carry was permitted at Fair Park.

The new policy, which also includes the installation of weapons detection technology at entrances, aims to enhance security following last year’s shooting, in which three people were injured at the fair’s food court. It was the sweeping ban that prompted the ire of Republican lawmakers.

On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a letter to fair officials that the State Fair of Texas’ new gun policy violates Texas law. And if they don’t fix the problem in the next two weeks, he plans to sue the City of Dallas over the ban.

According to the AG’s office, in 2002 the City of Dallas entered into a 25-year lease with the State Fair of Texas authorizing the nonprofit organization to take control of the governmental function of Fair Park during the 24 days of the annual event. Consequently, the new carry rule directly violates state law, which permits licensed gun owners to lawfully carry in places owned or leased by governmental entities unless otherwise prohibited by state law. 

“Texas law clearly states that license to carry holders may not be prevented from carrying a firearm on property owned or leased by the government unless otherwise prevented by state statute,” Paxton said in a news release from his office. “The State Fair of Texas’s recent policy that infringes on LTC holders’ Second Amendment rights is unlawful. Dallas has 15 days to fix the issue, otherwise I will see them in court.”

The letter to fair officials fully spelled out why the AG considers the carry ban unlawful.

“Our office views this statement by the State Fair of Texas as an implication that the City of Dallas (a political subdivision of the state) is prohibiting a license holder from entering or remaining on premises or other place owned or leased by the City of Dallas in violation of [state law],” the letter stated. “To the extent that the State Fair of Texas, as a nonprofit organization, may have considered Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-0108 in making its decision to exclude license holders from the entirety of the 277-acre Fair Park and all of its buildings, walkways and sidewalks, such reliance was misplaced in regard to the 277-acre Fair Park.”

It seems the next move is up to fair officials and what they decide to do concerning the firearms ban. And they don’t have a lot of time to make that decision.

“As the Attorney General has determined that legal action is warranted based upon the above referenced violation, the City of Dallas is hereby given 15 days from receipt of this notice to cure this violation,” the letter concluded. “Should the violation not be cured, our office may file suit to seek injunctive relief and collect civil penalties of not less than $1,000 and not more than $1,500 for each violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation.”

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Right on! My state has a State Fair carry ban due to the political clout of the Sec of Ag who sits atop a 2 story bldg at our fair, drinking liquor with his cronies and toadies protected by the highway patrol. As long he is Ag Sec and there is a carry ban, I will not attend. The idiocracy of it all is there is a gun show on the same grounds 6 times a year.

  5. Send in the Texas rangers to arrest them on the very first day the fair opened and keep arresting them until someone in their hierarchy says ‘ok, we give up’ or they loose millions of dollars by the fair being closed.

    Ok, maybe not that exactly – but the point is at what point do we stop saying ‘if you violate the law that backs constitutional rights we are going to sue you and spend the years it takes for it to be tied up in court.” and start saying ‘if you violate the law that backs constitutional rights we are going to arrest you and put you in jail.’

    • .40 cal Booger,

      Each state needs the state-level equivalent of the federal criminal and civil laws corresponding to, “Deprivation of rights under color of law.” And those states need to ensure that any entity can enforce that law, even citizens. At that point state police or even a county Sheriff could arrest anyone depriving citizens of their rights. And if neither state police nor county Sheriff step up to enforce that law, then the citizens themselves can enforce it (via arrest and jail until prosecution).

      • https://www.justice.gov/crt/deprivation-rights-under-color-law

        Summary:
        Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
        For the purpose of Section 242, acts under “color of law” include acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official’s lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim.

        The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any.

        TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242

    • No, that exactly. Have the TX Rangers arrest any official operating metal detectors, plus the personnel that made the decision, from the guys doing the violating, all the way to the top. Individual arrests, prosecutions, and fines, to be paid personally, and not by some third party.
      Lock ’em up.
      Do that a few times, and the problems go away.
      As a counter point, what would the public demand if the fair hired the KKK and decided to have them exclude certain ethnic or cultural groups? The public would justifiably demand immediate arrest and prosecution of all involved for violating people’s civil rights. Why are gun owners’ civil rights any less important?

  6. Rest assured the ratbassturds behind the ban on “common sense self defense” are harris/walz supporting democrats.

    I am proud to be an American voting for TRUMP/VANCE 2024. At this point in time Any gun talking pos who bad mouths TRUMP benefits harris/walz. In other words for the politically inept gun talking blowbags who cannot hit the broadside of a barn during a crucial election…Center X is harris/walz.

  7. “…and collect civil penalties of not less than $1,000 and not more than $1,500 for each violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation.”

    Problem with this is that considering the overall budget of a nearly month-long event, this total fine of only $24,000 to $36,000 is just a drop in the bucket. Unless there are real (jail time) penalties, I’d bet the gun-hating fair management will jump at this offer.

        • It says “per violation.” That means for each person turned away, there is a violation. Or it could be per entrance with violations. Either way, he could pump it up to make it financially not feasible.

    • If several thousand concealed carriers were turned away daily, with evidence of their dismissal, then that would be quite a violation.

  9. “last year’s shooting, in which three people were injured at the fair’s food court”

    Is this CNN? If they became SHOT then they were WOUNDED not injured.

    • Heres the thing about that word ‘injured’.

      Look at how CNN and the entire left wing media uses it. Look at how anti-gun all over uses it, look at how the GVA and Trace use it. They use it to imply someone was shot when they may not have been shot.

      For example: In the GVA are hundreds of examples where no one was shot or less then three were shot, but they were ‘injured’ (even extremely slightly) some way (e.g. fell down while trying to flee and got knees scraped). So the media reports it like ‘there was a shooting, people got injured’ implying with their overall report this ‘injury’ was being shot. The GVA picks up on the media report, makes no effort at all to vet the story information, and it goes in their database as a ‘shooting’ of some type (e.g. ‘mass shooting’ even though less than 3 were ‘injured’ and not shot) and magically the number of ‘shootings’ increases even though (maybe) no one was shot and all the anti-gun point to the GVA and go ‘see, look at this’.

      That’s how their number deception works, vague terms and wording they can use to imply and twist to falsely inflate numbers by leaving out context. Typical left wing deceptions, you’ve seen the concept used here at TTAG in the comments by Miner49er by leaving out context and cherry picking out of context.

    • “Anti-Gunner Tries to Spread Insane (and extremely ignorant) Conspiracy Theory About ‘Gun Toters’”

      Thanx for the link.

  13. Its official: Walz is a liar and a fraud.

    It is now clear that Walz lied when he claimed to have carried any weapon “in war.” Its also clear his claims of carrying a civilian grade AR-15 in the military or a combat zone or “war” was a lie also. The Washington Post fact-checker found it to be ‘false’. Walz never got near a combat zone during his military service, he never carried a civilian grade AR-15 in the military or combat or “war”or even used one. The Harris-Walz campaign finally admitted that his claims were untrue, lies every one.

    Then the Harris-Walz campaign tried to wiggle out of it by spinning it that Walz “misspoke” as if the fraud was inadvertent. But they completely ignored the many times he has made these claims and his claims that turn out to be false and stolen valor. The typical violent extremist radical left wing ‘Wizard of Oz protocol’ deflection trick used when they get caught in any of their overwhelmingly many lies… “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”

    • I’m travelling on vacation in Wisconsinat the moment, and have had a tv going in background every evening (wife “likes” the sounds of. civilization apparently) … has anyone seen the Kamala ” A house is so much more than just a home ” ad?
      Apparently if WE subsidize a house for everyone, they can all go on to college, great success, and retirement. Gee, when we bought our house, we went straight into debt.

      • another socialist communism plan of hers, the communist ‘collectivism’ concept.

        Collectivism, basically, refers to values that emphasize (and demand) the desires and goals and needs of a group takes priority over the goals and desires and needs of each individual. But the communist use of it takes it further by imposing the state in deciding that those with must give it to those without for the ‘collective’ good of the communist socioeconomic order, and deciding the group and who gives or gets what to replace private ownership as well as the profit-based economy with communal control run by the state.

        communist ‘collectivism’ is her plan.

        Its what the communist did, for example, in the old Soviet Union and in China.

        The democrats are not even pretending any more – they have Kamala an Walz out right saying they are socialist communist and want a socialist communist tyranny, but the way Kamala sugar coats it appeals to the left wing socialist communist mindset and ignorant people.

  17. As if I even care. Last year, my wife was pushing the stroller with our bags (including one with my sub-2000) and they just waived her through without even searching her, the stroller, the bags, or even putting her through the metal detector.

    I had to show my license, but that was it. We brought in 3 guns, Including a rifle, and they only knew about 1 because I was honest and didn’t hide it.

    The security there is a joke.

  18. No , each individual turned away for lawful possession of a firearm is a separate , actionable infraction of the states law and punishable by a $1500 fine .

  19. Well, whatayaknow. A state government that actually protects the 2nd Amendment rights of its citizens. Huh. I think I’m moving to Texas!

  20. Seems to me that a violation wouldn’t be every day they enforce this policy. For a 24 day event they will just consider the thousand dollars or so the cost of doing business. It should be every time a license holder is turned away. And the license holder denied their rights should get the money. Put an end to this nonsense in a hurry.

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