This opinion was later cited in allowing the Fort Worth Zoo, which operates on city-owned land under a nonprofit contract, to enforce a gun ban.
Paxton’s office has since distanced itself from this opinion.
Last month, Paxton’s administrative law chief, Ernest Garcia, sent a letter to Dallas interim city manager Kimberly Tolbert, indicating that any reliance on the 2016 opinion to support the State Fair’s gun ban was “misplaced.” The letter did not explain why the 2016 opinion no longer applied.
Legal Action Looms
The attorney general’s office is currently reviewing the matter and is expected to release a new opinion soon. The decision to withdraw the 2016 opinion follows questions raised by two Republican lawmakers, who asked whether the State Fair of Texas operates in conjunction with the City of Dallas and, therefore, is prohibited from banning firearms under state law.
The State Fair’s Response
In response to Paxton’s legal challenge, attorneys for the State Fair of Texas have strongly denied that the City of Dallas exerts any control over the event. In a letter to Paxton, they described the assumptions about the nonprofit’s relationship with the city as “mistaken.”
