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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.
Hours before the lawsuit was announced, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson told The Texas Tribune that he has “absolute confidence in the Dallas Police Department and in the organizers of the nonprofit State Fair of Texas to keep people safe during the largest annual event in Dallas."
Fair officials have said the fair policy change was a safety measure related to last year’s shooting. Law enforcement arrested 22-year-old Cameron Turner in connection with the shooting. The officials said he opened fire at the fair’s food court and charged him with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited place.
Paxton was not the only government official to express frustrations about the new gun policy; shortly after the announcement, a wave of Republican state lawmakers and gun advocacy groups voiced displeasure with it.
The state lawmakers signed a petition pressuring State Fair officials to rescind the new policy, saying the new policy makes the fair “less safe” and adding: “Gun free zones are magnets for crime because they present less of a threat to those who seek to do evil.”
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