An Texas judge has slapped down an attempt by state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to force the state fair to allow guns.
Paxton’s office sued in August to block a change in state fair policy to ban private firearms — a change Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky upheld Thursday.
Concealed handguns had been permitted at the fair, which often sees more than 100,000 people per day — until last season, when a 22-year old man opened fire in a crowded food court , injuring several people.
In suspect Cameron Turner’s account of events, the shooting was the sort of incident of self-defense that advocates of Texas’s broad gun laws have often pointed to: He told officers that he and his family were approached by several large men, and he went into “defensive” mode to protect them.
Later police investigations cast doubt on this story — Turner was, for one thing, alone when the shooting started — and last month, the state fair banned firearms unless carried by an active- or off-duty police officer.