DALLAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening legal action against the City of Dallas if the State Fair of Texas does not lift its new ban on all guns, including license-to-carry firearms.
Paxton in a news release Wednesday called the license-to-carry ban "unlawful" and said he's giving the city 15 days "to fix the issue, otherwise I will see them in court."
The City of Dallas, which owns Fair Park and leases the grounds to the State Fair of Texas each year for the fair's run of three-plus weeks, told WFAA in a statement Thursday that it received Paxton's letter.
"We are reviewing the letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office and will respond accordingly," a city spokesperson said in a statement.
The fair's safety plan for 2024 includes the new ban on all guns following a shooting that happened in a food court area of the fair last year. Under the policy, no guns will be allowed on Fair Park property, unless it is carried by someone who is a current or retired peace officer.
After calls from some lawmakers to rescind the policy, fair officials on Tuesday reiterated that the policy would stay intact.
Paxton argued that the gun ban infringes on Texas gun owners' rights because Fair Park is government-owned property. If the policy isn't changed, Paxton said, his office will file a lawsuit "to seek injunctive relief and collect civil penalties."
“Texas law clearly states that license-to-carry holders may not be prevented from carrying a firearm on property owned or leased by the government unless otherwise prevented by state statute,” Paxton said.
Here's the full letter Paxton sent to Dallas interim City Manager Kim Tolbert.
Fair officials in a statement said they were aware of Paxton's letter to the city and said "it appears from the letter that the Attorney General's Office is seeking clarification" about the city's relationship with the State Fair of Texas and the fair's use of Fair Park under the two sides' lease agreement.
"We have not spoken with the City yet but stand ready to cooperate with them, as needed," the fair officials said in a statement.
In the letter to the city, Paxton's office acknowledged that some of the buildings at Fair Park, such as the Cotton Bowl, are locations where weapons are banned under state law due to high school and college football games being held there. But "the vast majority" of Fair Park, Paxton's office wrote, "is not a place where weapons are prohibited."
The attorney general's letter warned Tolbert that civil penalties could range from $1,000-$1,500 per each day the policy stays in place.
The fair's new policy this year follows the security measures put into place last year, when a shooting injured three people in a food court area. It remained unclear how the shooting suspect, 22-year-old Cameron Alexander Turner, got a gun into the fair, officials said. The fair had implemented screening devices aimed at detecting guns, but the gun involved in the shooting still made it onto the grounds.
Karissa Condoianis, the fair's public relations president, told WFAA on Tuesday, before Paxton's letter was issue, that the fair will not go back on the new policy. She said the new policy was a hard decision to make but that the fair believed it was the safest option.
“We feel that this is a measure that we need to put in place to just prevent anything from happening out here,” Condoianis said.
Condoianis said there will be hundreds of armed police officers on-site during the State Fair. The event will have more than 2,400 staff members working, including 100 retired officers. That’s in addition to Dallas Police, Dallas Fire Rescue, DART Police, and private security.
Other new security measures include only allowing bags inside that are 9 in. x 10 in. x 12 in., and there will be a 24/7 command center.
Texas House Representative Brian Harrison, who represents District 10, was among the nearly 70 lawmakers who called on the fair to rescind the gun policy.
“They're making the wrong decision, no doubt about it,” he said. “I share their goal in maximizing safety but what they’ve done is actually reduce safety.”