DALLAS (TND) — Dozens of Texas Republicans on Monday sent a letter to the chair of the State Fair of Texas board, demanding a reversal of a controversial gun ban.
Fair officials will not permit firearms anywhere on fairgrounds during the 2024 festivities. The decision follows a shooting during the 2023 State Fair which injured three.
In the letter, the lawmakers decried the change, claiming it will make the event even more susceptible to attacks.
“While it may be that your new policy placates some, the result will make your patrons less safe,” the letter reads. “Gun free zones are magnets for crime because they present less of a threat to those who seek to do evil. Law-abiding citizens in the United States use firearms daily to defend themselves against criminals.”
The lawmakers also noted they would consider proposing legislation during the upcoming session to protect gun rights on public land. Signing the letter were 70 lawmakers and Republican candidates from across the state.
“I stand with my colleagues in opposing the State Fair of Texas’ gun ban,” State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock,wrote. “Seventy signatures strong! Gun-free zones don’t make us safer—they make us targets. Texans have the right to defend themselves.”
Also cheering the move was the National Rifle Association, which wrote “Texas lawmakers and legislative candidates are standing up for their citizens’ right to bear arms.”
The State Fair of Texas begins Sept. 27 in Dallas.
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