DALLAS — If the potential legal battle brewing over whether the State Fair of Texas can ban guns from the fairgrounds looks familiar, it’s because it is.
“There were debates almost 10 years ago now about the two zoos in Dallas and Fort Worth and whether they could bar guns from the property, concealed weapons,” said Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy.
Both zoos, like the State Fair, are private, nonprofits and lease the premises where they operate from city governments. And Kennedy remembers the complaints filed against them when they made policies to ban guns citing safety concerns.
“At that time Ken Paxton's decision was totally different. His opinion was that it was just fine that these zoos were run by nonprofit outside entities that they could set the rules that they wanted to set,” Kennedy said.
This time around – Paxton wrote a letter giving the City of Dallas 15 days to quote “fix the issue” or otherwise he would see them in court.
It comes after 70 lawmakers, including District 10 State Rep Brian Harrison, signed a petition against the gun ban.
“Just a catastrophically disappointing and wrong-headed decision by the State Fair of Texas. And I, and there's still time, I hope they reconsider,” Harrison said.
The debate over guns on the fairgrounds comes as we just got our hands on a memo from a January meeting with the city of Dallas and state fair stakeholders. In it, State Fair reps told the city security needed to do a better job at properly screening people entering the fairgrounds. They also discussed checking license-to-carry (LTC) credentials and who should be doing it.
In a statement Wednesday, State Fair reps told WFAA:
"We are aware that the Texas Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to the City of Dallas about the recent announcement concerning firearms at the annual State Fair. It appears from the letter that the Attorney General’s Office is seeking clarification regarding the City’s relationship with the State Fair of Texas – a private, not-for-profit organization – and the State Fair’s use of Fair Park under a long-term lease agreement between the two parties. We have not spoken with the City yet but stand ready to cooperate with them, as needed."
The City of Dallas said in a statement: "We are reviewing the letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office and will respond accordingly."