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Three visitors joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suing the State Fair of Texas and the City of Dallas over the fair’s policy banning all firearms from its properties.

Monday’s filing is Paxton’s latest maneuver in an ongoing battle over the state fair and its gun ban. In September, one day before the event kicks off, the Texas Supreme Court denied Paxton’s request to rescind the policy – stating he has no role in “deciding whether the State Fair made a wise decision” – after a Dallas District Court judge allowed the ban on firearms is maintained.

Paxton filed an update naming new plaintiffs in his ongoing case in Dallas District Court, which is expected to hold another hearing next year.

In it, Paxton accuses the state fair and city officials of violating state law that prohibits most government agencies from banning guns on their properties. Paxton also claims officials violated the constitutional right to bear arms of visitors Maxx Juusola, Tracy Martin and Alan Crider. They are seeking up to $1 million in civil damages and allowing people to carry guns at the fairgrounds.

After the Supreme Court’s decision, Paxton said in a press release that he would continue to insist on “the merits of maintaining the ability of Texans to defend themselves.”

Dallas owns Fair Park, where the 24-day event takes place each year, but State Fair of Texas, a nonprofit organization, manages the park as well as various city buildings and walkways within the property, according to a 25 year agreement between the two entities. A week before Paxton’s Dallas District Court hearing withdrew an eight-year-old legal opinion which allowed private, nonprofit organizations to ban guns on land they lease from a city.

Paxton continues to assert that since Dallas owns Fair Park, the nonprofit’s policy change violates state law, which allows licensed gun owners to transport weapons in premises owned or leased by governmental entities, unless otherwise prohibited by state law. according to Paxton’s lawsuit. Texas law establishes that schools and courtrooms are considered gun-free zones and allows others, such as amusement parks or educational institutions, to institute their own gun bans.

In his letter to the interim city manager Over the summer, Paxton acknowledged that some buildings on Fair Park grounds, such as the Cotton Bowl and other buildings used for school events, are areas where guns are prohibited by state law. ‘State.

“However, all or the vast majority of the 277 acres of Dallas Fair Park is not a place where weapons are prohibited,” Paxton wrote.

The city of Dallas disagreed with Paxton’s allegations, explaining that city officials were not involved in the State Fair’s decision to impose a gun ban.

“The State Fair of Texas is a private event managed and controlled by a private, nonprofit entity and not the city,” a Dallas spokesperson said in a statement.

Justice officials say they could enforce a gun ban as a private, nonprofit organization.