First there was this.
Howdy, folks
The state and its third biggest city are set to square off in court over a ban on guns at Texas’ most celebrated tribute to itself — the State Fair.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday that he is suing the city of Dallas and state fair officials for its new policy of banning all firearms from the fairgrounds.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit asks a Dallas County District Court to order the City of Dallas and state fair officials not to enforce the gun ban at the Fair during its run from Sept. 27 until Oct. 20.
“Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense,” Paxton wrote in his statement. “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 said it disagreed with Paxton’s allegations against its interim city manager.
“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, nonprofit entity and not the City.”
Karissa Condoianis, a state fair spokesperson, said Friday that fair officials were standing by their decision.
“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,” she said.
Fair officials announced the new gun ban last month, a year after a shooting at the fair injured three people. Paxton’s suit says that since Fair Park is owned by Dallas, the policy change violates state law, which allows licensed gun owners to carry in places owned or leased by governmental entities, unless otherwise prohibited by state law.
According to the filing, Paxton is seeking fines for each day the policy is still in place. In his 15-day ultimatum letter to the interim city manager, he acknowledged that some buildings located on the Fair Park premises, like the Cotton Bowl and other buildings that are used for scholastic events are areas where guns are prohibited by state law.
Paxton is suing the city of Dallas because the State Fair is on Dallas-owned land, but the policy is that of the State Fair, which is a private entity and has the right under Texas law to ban firearms. The law here is unclear.
The city of Dallas, which owns Fair Park, entered into a 25-year contract with the State Fair approved in 2002 to lease the park to fair organizers every year for the fair’s 24-day run.
The State Fair of Texas is a private nonprofit organization, with the fair itself being one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers every year.
According to Texas Government Code, a state agency or political subdivision — like Dallas — can not ban a licensed gun owner from property that is government owned or leased, unless it’s a protected gun-free zone such as a school or courthouse.
“The rule in Texas is, with a few exceptions, you can take guns anywhere that you want,” said Mirya Holman, a University of Houston political science professor who studies state policymaking on contentious issues like gun rights. “And private entities can say, ‘we don’t let firearms on this property,’ because they’re controlling their own property.”
Paxton cited this law in arguing Dallas is responsible for the gun ban, which he said makes the new policy illegal. That has to do with the concept of preemption, Holman said — the idea that the state’s authority supersedes local governments.
“Paxton is threatening the city of Dallas with fines for not allowing firearms onto the State Fair property,” Holman said. “That’s a more rare form of preemption that exists, but it is something that the state of Texas has threatened to use before, and it means that local government officials would themselves pay a financial price for engaging in this action.”
[…]
Texas Penal Code lays out the legal framework around concealed and open carry. It’s a criminal offense to carry a firearm on a property without the “effective consent” of the property owner, up to a Class A misdemeanor.
The penal code doesn’t really define “property” or “owner,” so the question of who has the right of consent over allowing guns on a property is complicated, said [David] Coale, the appellate attorney.
“We have a situation where, in good faith, you have two different entities that can argue they’re the owner of this property for purposes of denying effective consent,” Coale said.
Lawmakers may not have had this specific situation in mind when crafting that law, he added — and Paxton’s office said as much in an August 2016 opinion about a similar issue concerning a complaint over two unnamed nonprofits with offices on government property.
Paxton concluded a political subdivision wouldn’t be liable for signs banning handguns handguns on government-owned property leased to a private business.
He reiterated that same position in November 2016, ruling that the Fort Worth Zoo could legally ban firearms despite being on public land.
The attorney general also found that a license holder who took their gun onto that kind of property wouldn’t be subject to criminal penalties.
Those opinions aren’t legally binding, however, and it’ll be up to the courts to decide.
“The real fix here is for the Legislature to figure out what it wants to do about this, and either put a definition of ‘owner’ in that includes, excludes or does something else with Fair Park,” Coale said.
I think we know what the Lege is likely to do, but that won’t affect this matter. And clearly, 2016 Ken Paxton is not the same as 2024 Ken Paxton. I have no idea what the courts will make of this – it will surely go to the Supreme Court if Paxton loses in the early rounds, but if the city of Dallas loses they may decide to settle and get out rather than pursue the matter to the ends of the earth.
As for the State Fair, they’re not budging.
A State Fair of Texas spokesperson released a statement Saturday affirming their commitment to prioritizing the fairgoers’ safety and asserting their right to enforce and uphold their decision to ban guns.
“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,” said a spokesperson. “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.”
The fair’s updated policy comes after 23-year-old Cameron Turner opened fire and injured three people at the fair last year.
Yeah, let’s not forget that part. Normal people would likely presume that they are safer in a public space where there are fewer guns, not more guns. We’re not dealing with that here. We’ll see what the courts make of this.