Texas lawmakers are pushing to end a gun ban that prevents American citizens from carrying firearms at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.
According to Houston Public Media, Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Republican, has proposed a bill that would make it illegal for licensed gun owners to be prohibited from carrying firearms on property owned by the government. The outlet noted that the bill would prohibit private contractors like the State Fair of Texas from banning firearms at locations like Dallas’ Fair Park.
The bill, which is labeled HB 1715, states that government entities, contractors, and courts who utilize government property “may not in any manner prohibit a license holder who is carrying a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, from entering or remaining on the property or a portion of the property, including through the provision of notice by a communication described by Section 30.06 or 30.07, Penal Code, unless license holders are otherwise prohibited from carrying handguns on the property or that portion of the property under Section 46.03, Penal Code, or other law.”
Cain’s bill proposal comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas in August for “unlawfully prohibiting firearms from government-owned public property in violation of Texas law.”
“Municipalities cannot nullify state law nor can they avoid accountability by contracting official functions to nominally third parties,” Paxton said at the time. “Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense.”
According to Houston Public Media, the Texas State Fair banned firearms at Fair Park following a shooting incident in 2023 that left three people injured. However, the ban was quickly met with opposition from Republican lawmakers, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and other advocates of the Second Amendment.
“Gun-free zones are not crime-free, so creating new ones doesn’t make Texans any safer,” Tara Mica, an NRA lobbyist, told KERA News. “By taking this action to prohibit the lawful carrying of firearms at Fair Park, a publicly-owned property, the Texas State Fair Board may have highlighted an oversight in current law that needs addressing. And if state lawmakers agree, we will work with them to do so next session.”
Houston Public Media reported that Texas law currently prevents state agencies from banning firearms on property owned by the government, with exceptions for gun-free zones, such as courthouses and schools. However, the outlet noted that Texas State Fair officials previously claimed they were legally authorized to ban firearms from Fair Park since the Texas State Fair is a nonprofit organization.