Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the appeals court to act by Tuesday on a request to block a new policy that would ban most people from bringing firearms to the State Fair of Texas, which begins Friday.
Paxton is seeking to overturn a ruling made last week by Dallas County District Court Judge Emily Toborowsky upholding the new fairness policy, ignoring protests from the attorney general, who believes the rules infringe on gun owners’ rights.
Toborowsky last Thursday denied Paxton’s request for a preliminary injunction in response to his lawsuit against the fair, the city of Dallas and interim Mayor Kimberly Biser Tolbert, after which he filed an emergency appeal in the new 15th District Court of Appeals in Austin.
Paxton said in his appeals court petition that he wants a decision by Tuesday to give the Texas Supreme Court time to consider the issue if necessary.
“The Court has denied relief to the state, forcing thousands of law-abiding Texans to choose between giving up their constitutionally guaranteed and statutory rights or being excluded from public accommodations,” the motion states. “And without temporary relief now, it is highly unlikely that an appeals court will be able to review this decision in time for this year’s fair, which is scheduled to begin on September 27 and end on October 20.”
Under the fair’s new policy, announced in August, only elected, appointed or employed police officers will be allowed to carry firearms on fairgrounds. Previously, the fair allowed attendees with a valid handgun permit to bring firearms as long as they carried them concealed, but state law does not require a permit for Texans to carry a firearm in public.
The policy change comes after a man shot and killed three people at the fair last year.
Paxton filed a lawsuit in August against the city of Dallas, Tolbert and the state fair, alleging they violated state law, which prohibits local governments from banning people with gun permits on government land. Dallas leases 277 acres of city-owned Fair Park to the state fair for the annual event. Paxton’s office argues that, as the landlord, the city should be forced not to enforce the policy on the nonprofit state fair.
Fair officials and lawyers say the new policy is meant to increase safety for fairgoers and that the law Paxton cited doesn’t apply to private organizations that use the venue temporarily. They point to similar restrictions that have been put in place at other events in the state, including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
City lawyers say Dallas officials have no say in fair policy and that the nonprofits that lease Fair Park can make whatever rules they want during the 24 days the event is running.
In a response filed Tuesday, lawyers representing the city and the fair asked the court to deny Paxton’s emergency motion, reiterating their arguments.
“This case is not about gun rights, but rather about private property rights and the interpretation of certain laws,” attorneys for the State Fair of Texas responded. “The key issue is whether a private entity hosting an admissions-only event on property leased from the city can prohibit firearms at its private events without state interference. The answer should be yes.”
Paxton has previously issued legal opinions that say private groups can be banned from carrying guns on government property they lease, and in 2016 he dismissed a complaint by the privately run Dallas Zoo that it banned guns on city property.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Paxton rescinded a legal opinion his office issued in a separate 2016 case that found nonprofits have the right to ban firearms on property they lease from the government. That opinion, brought by Erath County District Attorney Lisa Pence about whether nonprofits can restrict gun owners from accessing city property, was cited in an Aug. 14 letter to Attorney General Paxton by two Republican members of the state Legislature, asking for his opinion on the state fair’s new policy.