Dallas— Thursday’s lawsuit Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed aims to stop a prohibition on weapons at the State Fair of Texas, one of the state’s largest yearly events.
Following a shooting last year on the 277-acre (112-hectare) fairgrounds in the middle of Dallas, fair officials earlier this month declared a ban on firearms. Republican state legislators, who have boldly extended gun rights in recent years, quickly objected to the action. Republican Paxton promised to sue should the prohibition remain unopposed.
Texas, according to Paxton, lets gun owners carry weapons in areas leased or owned by government agencies unless otherwise legally forbidden. The City of Dallas owns Fair Park; it contracts with the Texas State Fair for annual fair management.
Paxton referred to the prohibition as an illegal limitation on gun rights. Texas lets anyone carry a weapon without a background check or license or training.
Paxton claimed, “Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense.”
In a statement, Dallas’s municipal government declared it “aware of the lawsuit filed by the State of Texas and disagrees with the allegations against the City and interim city manager.” The City had no say about the State Fair of Texas’s announcement of its strengthened firearm policy. Not run by the City, the State Fair of Texas is a private event run and managed by a non-profit, private corporation.
State fair officials answered email inquiries for comments slowly at first.
Reopening in September and spanning almost a month, the exhibition originated in 1886. Apart from a labyrinth of midway games, vehicle exhibits, and the Texas Star Ferris Wheel, one of the highest in the United States, the fairgrounds also host the yearly college football rivalry between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma.
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