DALLAS — The State Fair of Texas will be able to proceed with its new policy barring most people from bringing guns at the fair this year after a judge Thursday declined to block it.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought a court order against the State Fair of Texas and the city of Dallas to block the enforcement of the gun ban. Dallas County District Court Judge Emily Tobolowsky denied Paxton’s request for an injunction Thursday.
The city of Dallas owns Fair Park and leases the grounds to the State Fair of Texas each year. The State Fair of Texas runs Sept. 27-Oct. 20 this year.
Paxton sued the city and State Fair of Texas last month, arguing in court filings that the State Fair of Texas had violated state law that largely bars local governments from restricting guns on property they own or lease.
Paxton has argued that the fair organizer “acts under authority” of the city of Dallas and can’t ban guns on the grounds. Officials with the city and fair, though, argued in court filings that the city has “no control” over the State Fair of Texas operations during the fair, making their policy announced earlier this year to ban guns at the fair this year legal. Under the policy, announced in August, active and retired peace officers would still be allowed to carry guns within the fairgrounds. The policy banning guns at the fair came after a shooting at the fair last year that injured three people.
Both the city of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas argued Paxton’s case runs counter to a nonbinding legal opinion he issued in 2016 that found private entities could ban guns on government-leased property as long as the government “has no control over the decision to post such notice.”
The 2016 opinion from Paxton’s office was cited in finding that notices banning firearms could be posted at the entrances to the Fort Worth Zoo because while the zoo is on city-owned land, the city contracts with a nonprofit to oversee zoo operations and management, according to court documents.
That 2016 opinion was withdrawn Sept. 10. Paxton’s office didn’t respond to a WFAA request for comment on the reason for the withdrawal.
Jim Harris, an attorney representing the State Fair of Texas, read from that opinion during Thursday’s hearing.
State Fair of Texas President Mitchell Glieber testified Thursday that the State Fair of Texas doesn’t have authority to act on behalf of the city and no one from the city was involved in the policy banning firearms.
“The senior management team got together, we decided ultimately that it was in the best interest of the safety of our fairgoers, our vendors, our staff to prohibit firearms and we made that decision,” Glieber said.
An attorney representing the state, though, argued the policy violated state law.
“The state has provided evidence that the city of Dallas at a minimum by allowing the State Fair of Texas to publish on its State Fair of Texas website…those are expressions, statements, at least implications by the city of Dallas and the city manager seeking to prohibit the entry of individuals exercising their right to carry a firearm and prohibiting them from remaining on public property, Fair Park,” attorney Ernest Garcia, representing the state, argued.
“It’s a private event. It has always been a private event run by this entity and the role of the city of Dallas is simply to provide leased premises,” attorney Jeff Tillotson, representing the city of Dallas, countered.
Paxton announced that he was suing the city Aug. 29 after giving the city a 15-day warning to reverse the firearm ban.
“Municipalities cannot nullify state law nor can they avoid accountability by contracting official functions to nominally third parties,” Paxton said at the time. “Neither the city of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense."
Fair officials, though, said they would keep it in place.
“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," a statement from the State Fair of Texas at the time said.
