Yesterday, NRA-ILA submitted a brief to state Attorney General Ken Paxton as an interested party in the matter of RQ-0558-KP, the opinion request sought by State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) on the matter of the State Fair of Texas’ misguided firearm prohibition for License To Carry holders at Fair Park in Dallas.
The brief outlines a “robust statutory scheme” that the Texas Legislature has enacted, protecting law-abiding Texans’ Right to Carry firearms for self-defense across the Lone Star State. NRA-ILA led the fight for passage of these important safeguards over the last two decades, including legislation restricting political subdivisions from posting public premises off-limits to LTC holders (SB 501, 2003), a bill imposing legal remedies and civil penalties on these entities for wrongfully excluding LTC holders from such locations (SB 273, 2015), and critical improvements to the state firearms preemption law to prevent a patchwork of conflicting local restrictions (HB 3231, 2019). Attorney General Paxton and state lawmakers have repeatedly referenced these laws in their actions and communications with the City of Dallas (which owns Fair Park but leases it out to the State Fair of Texas for three weeks in the fall during the fair), since announcement of the ban earlier this month.
The clock is ticking on the City of Dallas to take corrective action and direct the State Fair of Texas to rescind the ban. Attorney General Paxton sent a letter to the city on August 13, notifying them that unless the wrongful exclusion of LTC holders is corrected within 15 days, he will file suit to seek injunctive relief and civil penalties under Texas Government Code Section 411.209. We thank General Paxton for his swift and decisive action, and Sen. Middleton & Rep. Burrows for seeking key clarifications from his office on the application of the aforementioned statutes to these types of restrictions on the lawful carrying of firearms on public property.
