AG Ken Paxton turns to Texas Supreme Court to block State Fair of Texas’ new gun ban

Attorney General Ken Paxton is making a third attempt at blocking the State Fair of Texas’ new policy that would stop most people from carrying guns at the 24-day event, which begins Friday.
Paxton filed a petition Wednesday with the Texas Supreme Court to challenge prior rulings from Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky, a Democrat, last week and the 15th District Court of Appeals, which has three Republican justices, on Tuesday in Austin. Both rulings against Paxton allow the policy to remain in place.
The attorney general has asserted that the policy violates gun owners’ rights and that since the fair is held on land owned by the city of Dallas, it’s illegal to restrict access to people lawfully carrying firearms. He has sued the fair, the city and its interim city manager over the new rule.
“The Court of Appeals clearly abused its discretion by denying emergency relief from the trial court’s order because the city’s ultra vires acts violate state law,” Paxton’s latest challenge says.
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The new fair policy allows only elected, appointed, or employed peace officers to bring firearms onto the fairgrounds. Previously, attendees with a valid handgun license could carry their gun onto the 277-acre Fair Park during the event as long as it was concealed. State law doesn’t require Texans to have a permit to carry a firearm in a public place.
The fair is one of the biggest annual celebrations in the state and welcomed more than 2.3 million people last year. The policy change comes after a man shot three people at the fair last October.
Fair officials have argued the new policy is meant to increase the safety of attendees and state law allows private groups to prohibit firearms on property leased from a city for private events. City attorneys have said Dallas officials have no say in any fair policies, and as Fair Park’s lessee, the nonprofit can implement whatever rules it wants for the 24 days of the annual celebration.
Paxton previously issued legal opinions saying private groups could ban people from coming onto leased government-owned property with guns, including rejecting a complaint in 2016 over the privately-run Dallas Zoo banning guns from its city-owned property.
The attorney general, earlier this month, withdrew a similar legal opinion in a separate 2016 case. In the petition to the Texas Supreme Court, Paxton described the opinion as “outdated” and said he withdrew it because several legal developments have occurred since 2016, including the state Legislature allowing permitless carry in 2021.
“Applying ordinary statutory rules of construction, these legal developments suggest that even if entirely correct at the time it was issued, (the opinion) likely cannot stand—but, at minimum, requires reconsideration,” the petition said.