Vern EvansEven though the Texas State Fair is over for this year, the ongoing saga of the carry ban instituted by the fair board for the 2024 fair is still heating up.
On October 29, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and three fairgoers challenged the policy with an updated lawsuit against the State Fair of Texas and the city of Dallas. New plaintiffs Maxx Juusola, Tracy Martin and Alan Crider joined the lawsuit, State of Texas v. City of Dallas, claiming the ban violated a state law that restricts most government bodies from prohibiting weapons on their properties.
Plaintiffs further argue that the ban violated the constitutional rights of Juusola, Martin and Crider. They are asking for $1 million in civil damages and for the ban to be overturned before next year’s fair.
“A license holder may not be prosecuted for trespass based upon the posting of 30.06 or 30.07 signs on public city owned or leased property, including Fair Park except where license holders are prohibited from carrying handguns under [state law},” the complaint states. “The City of Dallas may not take any action that states or implies that a license holder who is carrying a handgun under the authority of [state law] is prohibited from entering or remaining on city property, including Fair Park, except where license holders are prohibited from carrying a handgun under [state law].”
Also in the complaint, plaintiffs argue that while there are some premises or buildings within Fair Park where guns are prohibited, such as buildings used for high school, collegiate, professional sporting or interscholastic events, the vast majority of the 277-acre property are not premises where firearms can be prohibited.
The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction on the carry ban, along with monetary compensation from the defendants.
Paxton sued the fair board and the city of Dallas back in October to get the ban overturned, but after much maneuvering, a Dallas judge ruled three days before the fair opened that the carry ban could stand.
Interestingly, Paxton and the three plaintiffs aren’t the only ones taking aim at carry bans in the Lone Star State. The Firearms Policy Coalition on October 29 filed a new lawsuit challenging laws prohibiting individuals from carrying firearms at certain locations in the State of Texas.
In the case Ziegenfuss v. McCraw, plaintiffs are challenging the state of Texas’ ban on carry in any business where alcohol comprises 51% or more of sales, even if the individual is not consuming alcohol, as well as at racetracks and sporting events.
Brandon Combs, FPC president, said that it is time such unjust laws are stricken from the books once and for all.
“FPC already struck down Texas’s ban on firearm carry for adults under the age of 21,” Combs said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “We now set our sights on ending enforcement of these locational bans so that all peaceable adults may carry firearms in public places without fear of criminal prosecution. This case is one of dozens we are litigating to help us achieve our strategic objectives and eliminate unconstitutional and immoral carry restrictions throughout the United States.”
That lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division.
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