State Fair of Texas Sees Lower Turnout

After a reduced turnout, the State Fair of Texas ended the 2024 Season on October 20, 2024. At the close of the Fair, the Attorney General filed a Second Amended Petition in Dallas. This filing was made on October 28, 2024, in the District Court of Dallas County. It followed a Motion to Dismiss filed in the Fifteenth Court of Appeals on the matter on October 21, 2024.

The Second Amended Petition called the acts of the opposing parties "Ultra Vires acts." These are actions taken by a government body that go beyond the scope of their power. "Defendants' acts of excluding handguns and those who carry handguns from the State Fair violate state law and are illegal ultra vires acts," the Petition reads.

This exclusion remained in place for the entirety of the Fair. The 2024 Season ran from September 27, 2024, to October 20, 2024.

The Petition identifies a monetary relief that is being sought of more than $250,000 but less than $1,000,000. This combined with the location of the Defendant’s offices will keep the case in Dallas County.

Max Juusola, Tracy Martin, and Alan Crider remain as additional parties to the suit. These are the individuals who were named because of their desire to carry a firearm by law.

The Petition also cites the Firearm Carry Act of 2021 (H.B. 1927). Your TSRA Legislative Team extensively worked on this act in 2021. It became effective September 1, 2021, and the Plaintiffs in the suit are in violation of it. “The Interim City Manager and other City of Dallas officials are failing to carry out the purely ministerial act of allowing handgun owners who are exercising their constitutional right to carry a handgun without a license to enter Fair Park,” the Petition reads.

The Amended Petition requests a Permanent Injunction. This is different from the Temporary Injunction originally sought by the Attorney General. A Temporary Injunction is sought ahead of an action. It is intended to pause the issue until a court can rule and resolve the matter. A Permanent Injunction would cause the act to be stopped on a permanent basis. If successful, the State Fair would not be able to repeat their actions in the future.

If the Attorney General is successful in this suit, it may benefit the State Fair in the long run. The State Fair website reports "2,385,855 HOWDYS" as the visitors who attended this year. This number is 44,406 less than the total attendees for 2023. It is a whopping 161,434 less than the total reported for 2022. The Plaintiffs may want to consider allowing law-abiding citizens back in for 2025.