Estimated Time to Read: 4 minutes
A high-profile legal battle over gun rights in Texas has come to an anticlimactic end. On June 24, 2025, a Dallas County judge dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) lawsuit against the State Fair of Texas and the City of Dallas. The lawsuit challenged the Fair’s 2024 decision to prohibit firearms, including for licensed handgun holders, at the annual event held at Fair Park.
This all started after a 2023 shooting at the fairgrounds that left three people injured. The shooter later pleaded guilty and received a 12-year prison sentence. In response, Fair officials tightened security measures and adopted a new blanket gun ban for the 2024 season.
That didn’t sit well with many conservatives, including Paxton, who argued that a private organization leasing public property shouldn’t be allowed to infringe on Texans’ Second Amendment rights.
Courts Reject Paxton’s Arguments
Paxton’s legal push hit a wall almost immediately. A district judge denied his initial request for an injunction. An appeals court upheld that denial. And when he tried to bring the issue before the Texas Supreme Court, they rejected it too, making it clear they weren’t convinced the law required the State Fair to allow firearms.
Finally, in late June, District Judge Emily Tobolowsky granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the State Fair and the City of Dallas, effectively closing the case. Paxton’s claims were dismissed with prejudice, meaning he can’t bring the case back.
The judge didn’t issue a lengthy explanation, but the message was clear: the Fair, while held on public land, wasn’t violating the law by enforcing its gun policy.
Bold Talk from Lawmakers—But No Action
As the lawsuit played out in court, more than 70 Republican lawmakers signed a letter urging the Fair to reverse its decision. Several pieces of legislation were filed during the recently concluded 89th Texas Legislative Session that aimed to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.
One of those, Senate Bill 1065 (SB 1065) by State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), would have required any lease agreement between a government entity and a private group (like the Fair) to include language explicitly allowing licensed handgun holders to carry, unless there was a legal reason to prohibit it, such as the property being a school or courthouse.
SB 1065 passed the Senate along partisan lines by a vote of 20 to 11, but when it got to the House, it died quietly in the Calendars Committee. It never received a vote from House lawmakers.
Meanwhile, three similar bills filed in the House, House Bill 1715 (HB 1715) by State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), House Bill 3430 by State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington), and House Bill 3480 (HB 3480) by State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth), never received a hearing in the House State Affairs Committee. Notably, the House State Affairs Committee is chaired by State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian), who was one of the signatories on the joint letter in opposition to the ban.
So while several lawmakers spoke forcefully about standing up for gun rights, none of the proposed legislative fixes crossed the finish line.
Paxton’s Position and the Road Ahead
Paxton was unapologetic in his pushback against the Fair’s gun ban. Last year, he put it bluntly:
“Municipalities cannot nullify state law nor can they avoid accountability by contracting official functions to nominally third parties… Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense.”
But the courts didn’t agree, and the Legislature didn’t back him up.
For now, private organizations that lease public property still appear to have the legal leeway to set their own firearm policies. If gun rights advocates want to change that, the next opportunity will come during the 90th Legislative Session. But it’s going to take more than letters and headlines. It’ll take actual votes.
Final Thoughts
This whole episode illustrates a common theme in Texas politics: loud rhetoric doesn’t always lead to real policy change. Despite months of attention, four filed bills, and an Attorney General lawsuit, the legal status quo remains intact.
The Fair’s gun ban is still in place. The courts have said it’s lawful. And lawmakers, despite their campaign-trail promises, opted not to act.
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