DALLAS (AP) — A judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to suspend a recently announced ban on guns at the State Fair.
Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky denied the state’s request for an injunction to stop the ban from taking effect when the fair opens next week.
Fair officials’ announcement of the ban last month, following a 2023 shooting at the same fair, was quickly criticized by Republican lawmakers in the state, who have expanded gun rights in recent years. Texas allows people to carry firearms without a license, background check or training.
Paxton threatened to sue if the ban was not overturned. Fair officials stood firm, prompting him to sue the State Fair of Texas and the city of Dallas. The city owns Fair Park, the 277-acre (112-hectare) site of the event.
Paxton has called the ban an illegal restriction on gun owners’ rights, arguing that Texas allows them to carry firearms on premises owned or leased by government entities unless prohibited by law.
But city and fair officials have said the State Fair of Texas is a private nonprofit organization that leases property from the city to host its event. The city has said the State Fair of Texas is authorized by law to decide whether or not to allow fairgoers to carry firearms. Fair officials have said the fair is not a government entity and is not controlled by any.
Last year, three people were injured in a shooting at the fair after one man opened fire on another. Videos posted on social media showed groups of people running along sidewalks and climbing over fences as they fled.
The nearly month-long fair dates back to 1886. In addition to a massive Ferris wheel, a network of carnival games and livestock displays, the fairgrounds host the annual college football rivalry between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma. Big Tex, the five-story-tall cowboy who greets visitors, has become a beloved figure. When the towering cowboy went up in flames in 2012 due to an electrical short, the return of the fair mascot was greeted with great fanfare.
