In the shape of an L on his forehead
An all-Republican Texas appeals court has delivered another blow to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s challenge of the State Fair’s firearms ban, just over a month before the annual weekslong event returns to Dallas.
In his 2024 lawsuit against the city and the private nonprofit that operates the fair, Paxton argued that the policy violated a state law that bars local governments from limiting guns in most public spaces. The event takes place at Fair Park, which the city owns and leases to the fair organizer.
On Thursday, the three justices on the 15th Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a lower court’s rejection of Paxton’s argument. In particular, their ruling held that the state law only applies to the conduct of government entities, while nodding at the city’s consistent position that it has no role in making or overseeing the fair’s policy.
“It does not apply to private entities such as the State Fair,” the opinion said.
[…]
In 2024, the Texas Supreme Court denied his emergency filing to block the fair’s policy. The following year, a Dallas County district court granted the city of Dallas and the State Fair summary judgment and dismissed the case.
The Dallas Morning News reported last month that the State Fair is planning to ban guns at this year’s event.
See here for the previous update. The Lege could certainly address this, and according to the wingnut news site Texas Scorecard, there were bills introduced in the 2025 session to do just that. But they were filed by another loser, Briscoe Cain, and they never went anywhere. Womp womp. Anyway, enjoy another mostly gun-free State Fair if you go this year.
How apt that the name of the president of the Texas Gun Rights organization is . . . McNutt!