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August 20, 2024
By David Codrea
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a notice letter to the City of Dallas directing it to withdraw the statement made by the State Fair of Texas, the organization contracted to run Fair Park during the annual event, that prohibits citizens from lawfully carrying a firearm on the premise,” an August 14 press release from the AG’s office declares.
The catalyst was an incident from 2023, when a suspect since arrested on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon opened fire in a fair food court, hitting a man he said was approaching him along with two bystanders. Fair officials evidently believe citizen rights should hinge on how they can be criminally abused, and Paxton’s having none of it.
“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 noted, giving the City 15 days “to correct course before he will file suit to seek injunctive relief and collect civil penalties.”
The AG’s quick action followed a furor by Texas gun owners who know the law and know their rights and included, per Newsweek, “71 state lawmakers and Republican House nominees [who] signed a petition arguing that the new policy…makes folks ‘less safe.’"
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The flap began a week earlier with a post by Texas State Fair author Phillip Morales, where he admitted, without any real explanation besides “an ongoing safety and security assessment,” that “Previously, our weapons policy allowed licensed concealed carry. Now it does not.”
Visitors will undergo bag checks for prohibited items and be screened by detectors. Curiously, detectors in place in 2023 failed to expose the shooter, who did not have a Texas permit.
“The State Fair of Texas prohibits fairgoers from carrying all firearms, knives with blades over 5.5 inches long, clubs, explosive devices, ammunition, chemical dispensing devices, replicas or hoaxes, or weapons of any kind. This includes concealed carry and open carry of firearms anywhere on the fairgrounds including Cotton Bowl Stadium,” Morales wrote, adding another proviso certain to stick in the craw of gun owners who are protective of their rights and resentful of elitist exemptions. “This policy does not include elected, appointed, or employed peace officers.” So much for George Mason’s assertion that the Militia was "the whole people, except for a few public officers.”
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Except the “Only Ones” exemption didn’t work in the case of St. Paris, Ohio, Police Chief Eric Smith, arrested by County Sheriff’s deputies for open carrying at the Champaign County Fair because the Fair Board posted “No Guns” signs, he was “not working as a law enforcement officer” and Sheriff Matthew Melvin, who, per an Ohio Gun Owners Action Alert, lost his primary to a candidate Smith endorsed, demands a monopoly.
That’s despite Ohio having a “preemption” law (ORC 9.68) that prohibits any “political subdivision” in the state from enacting gun laws or ordinances more restrictive than state law, and that “The vast majority of Ohio’s fairs are NOT private entities, try as they might to act otherwise.” Champaign County’s not alone.
“The largest county fair in Ohio the Canfield Fair (Mahoning County Fair) has been trying to stop CCW because of youths from Youngstown causing fights including a shooting the other year,” a source tells Firearms News. “The Canfield Fairgrounds is a political subdivision which has its own police force, not a security company. As you know, government property in Ohio cannot ban open or CCW carry on open government land, just buildings. My cousin, a retired deputy sheriff, was told that he cannot carry, nor can any current police officer carry in the fair unless they are in uniform.” And the rest of us? The source continued, “Over the years, some fair vendors have been robbed at gunpoint, after hours, when closing up for the night. The criminals know they have a lot of cash then but, any fairgoer is at risk walking back to their car in the dark.”
Per Lisbon, Ohio’s Morning Journal, Mahoning County Court Judge Scott Hunter, a fair director in charge of security, “Firearms or guns of any kind, knives, Tasers, laser pointers, facial coverings other than surgical or KN95 masks are not permitted on the fairgrounds.” And, of course, it’s not just Ohio.
“In a video shot at the North Carolina State Fair, a boy was seen being thrown to the ground and stomped on,” WRAL News reported last October. “The video appears to show the nine-year-old child being body slammed and then punched and kicked while on the ground.” And no surprise, the boy’s mother, who apparently triggered the feral morons by objecting to line cuts, was helpless to protect her son because of the fair’s “clear bag” policy, stating among other rules that “firearms … or weapons of any type are not allowed.” It’s been ongoing there. Back in 2014, Grassroots North Carolina warned the North Carolina Agricultural Commissioner of the dangers after three people were robbed at gunpoint after leaving the fair.
Disarming fair patrons is longstanding and throughout the Republic. Without trying or intending to write an article about it, here are a few headlines/incidents I’ve commented on over the years:
2022: “Shooting and brawl at Minnesota State Fair triggers mass crowd panic, exodus, and early closure”
2019: “Expect airport-like security at this year’s Washington State Fair in Puyallup.”
2014: “A popular beer booth at the Minnesota State Fair was robbed last Friday night. The State Fair Police say the suspect was armed and the victims' hands were bound behind their backs.”
2013: “No Guns Allowed at The Bloomsburg [PA] Fair”
We could keep going. I’ve compiled entries going back to 2006 on my The War on Guns blog, that last one going back to Ohio and the Clermont County Fair, where the Agricultural Society claims private property privilege.
And prohibitionists being what prohibitionists are, another story I blogged about in 2020 seems as good a way to close out as any: State Rep. Juanita O. Brent of Cleveland, a Democrat, naturally, and a darling of Moms Demand Action because of her sponsorship of citizen disarmament edicts, assembled a handful of malcontents for TV “news” cameras at Elyria’s Old Courthouse to demand banning the sale of the Confederate Flag at the Lorain County Fair, and to tell the board, “Enough is enough.”
It’s not just your guns these people want, and for them, it will never be enough.
About the Author David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. In addition to being a regular featured contributor for Firearms News and AmmoLand Shooting Sports News , he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts onTwitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
If you have any thoughts or comments on this article, we’d love to hear them. Email us at FirearmsNews@Outdoorsg.com .
