ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The State Fair of Texas will welcome fairgoers later this month. There will be a host of new fried delicacies and a major new rule - no guns. The new policy was prompted by a shooting that injured three people at the fair last year. But Texas' Republican attorney general is suing the fair and the city of Dallas to reverse the ban. Toluwani Osibamowo with member station KERA has our story.
TOLUWANI OSIBAMOWO, BYLINE: In Texas, if you're 21 or older, you can openly carry a handgun in most public places with or without a license to carry. State law also says governments cannot ban licensed gun owners from carrying open or concealed handguns on government-owned or leased property. The only exceptions are certain gun-free zones, including schools and courthouses.
The city of Dallas owns the fairgrounds and leases it to fair organizers for the annual event. But the state fair organization is its own private nonprofit business. Fair spokeswoman Karissa Condoianis says organizers are legally allowed to ban guns on fairgrounds.
KARISSA CONDOIANIS: We are not a government entity, nor are we controlled by a government entity.
OSIBAMOWO: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says Dallas is responsible for the state fair's gun ban because it's taking effect on city property that's being leased. That's why he says the new policy is unlawful and that both the fair and Dallas are responsible. Dallas officials say they weren't involved in the state fair's gun ban, and they shouldn't be sued. A city councilman called the lawsuit political posturing and a waste of taxpayer resources.
David Cole is a Dallas attorney. He says Texas law doesn't clearly define who may be responsible for banning guns in this case - the government that owns the property or the private business leasing it.
DAVID COLE: And there is room for creative and aggressive lawyers, and Mr. Paxton is certainly one, to come in and say no, no, no. Owner means you own it. You're the ultimate owner of the property, and these rights are really important, and you shouldn't be able to just sign a piece of paper that gives them away.
OSIBAMOWO: Gun rights groups also criticize the fair's gun ban. They say gun-free zones are more susceptible to crime, as they present less of a threat to attackers. The University of Houston's Mirya Holman, who studies gun policy, says that idea has been disproven.
MIRYA HOLMAN: The idea that there's going to be some good guy with a gun that's going to come in and save all of us from a bad guy with a gun - no. The evidence would not suggest that that's going to happen.
OSIBAMOWO: Attorney General Paxton is asking for an injunction on the ban before the fair opens September 27.
For NPR News, I'm Toluwani Osibamowo in Dallas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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