The State Fair of Texas opened to the public today with its ban on firearms still in place, one day after the attorney general’s office was dealt a final blow in its bid to keep the fair operators from banning firearms at the 24-day festival.
On Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court denied the state’s request for emergency relief in the case. After Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky on Sept. 19 declined to enter an injunction that would stop the gun ban from taking effect, Texas took the fight to the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals.
That court — in just its second-ever ruling — also denied Texas’ emergency motion in a two-sentence per curiam order issued Sept. 24. The Texas Supreme Court followed suit, denying Texas’ petition for writ of mandamus without comment.
But Justice Jimmy Blacklock, joined by Chief Justice Nathan Hecht and Justice Evan Young, felt more needed to be said about the denial.
In a five-page concurrence, Justice Blacklock — who is an alumnus of the Office of the Attorney General — wrote that the Texas Supreme Court, in this case, “cannot possibly order the State Fair to allow handguns to be carried at this year’s Fair when the party seeking that relief does not even argue that Texas law obligates the Fair to do so.”
“Remarkably, the state’s presentation to this court takes no position on whether the State Fair of Texas, a private entity, has the legal authority to exclude patrons carrying handguns from the Fair,” he began. “This may surprise many observers, given that the ostensible purpose of this litigation is to determine whether Texas law entitles law-abiding Texans to carry handguns at the State Fair despite the Fair’s recently enacted policy to the contrary.”
Rather than arguing that the State Fair has no authority to ban firearms at the fairgrounds, Justice Blacklock said Texas instead argued that Dallas “may not promote or enforce the State Fair’s prohibition on guns.”
“The state’s filings obliquely suggest that there may be Second Amendment problems with the Fair’s gun policy, but the suggestion is slight and indirect, and any such argument is not explained,” the concurrence reads.
In a footnote, Justice Blacklock ripped into Texas’ argument that the State Fair’s gun policy wouldn’t be enforceable if Dallas police are prohibited from enforcing it.
“That is obviously wrong,” he wrote. “The Fair intends to hire private security, and the Dallas County District Attorney is not a party to this case. Perhaps the worst possible outcome from all of this would be a court order that sides with the state but actually only enjoins the city of Dallas and its police department based on section 411.209, which is the kind of order for which much of the State’s briefing seems to advocate. That order would leave the State Fair’s gun policy in place — and expose those who violate it to potential liability at the hands of local government officials who do not work for the city — while giving the law-abiding, gun-carrying public the misimpression that the courts have green-lighted their carriage of handguns at the Fair.”
“To the extent the state advocates for such an ill-conceived half-measure, it does so unadvisedly.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement Friday morning vowing to continue his fight against the “unlawful” firearm ban.
“Texans have a right to lawfully carry and the city of Dallas has no authority to contract their rights away to a private entity,” he said. “This case is not over. I will continue to fight this on the merits to uphold Texans’ ability to defend themselves, which is protected by state law. While Texas clearly prohibits this type of gun ban, I will be working with the Legislature this session to protect law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights on public property.”
Jeff Tillotson of Tillotson Johnson and Patton, who represents the city of Dallas, told The Texas Lawbook he appreciated the court’s “prompt consideration of this matter.”
“We feel the opinion says it all,” he said. “Please attend this year’s State Fair. It will be awesome.”
The State Fair is represented by Holland & Knight lawyers Jim Harris, Bryan Neal, Weston J. Mumme and Cole Browndorf.
Texas is represented by Ernest C. Garcia, Canon Parker Hill, Steven Ogle and Melissa Juarez of the Texas attorney general’s office.
Dallas and the interim city manager are also represented by Anne M. Johnson, Jonathan R. Patton and Mollie E. Mallory of Tillotson Johnson & Patton.
The case number is 24-0813.