Attorney General Ken Paxton told Newsmax on Wednesday that a ruling by a Texas appeals court essentially means that "state law means nothing."
Last week, a judge denied an effort by Paxton to halt a recently announced ban on guns at the State Fair of Texas. Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky denied the state's request for a temporary injunction to stop the ban from taking effect.
Paxton, a Republican, filed a lawsuit against the State Fair of Texas and the City of Dallas. The city owns Fair Park, the 277-acre grounds where the event is held.
Paxton has called the the ban an illegal restriction on gun owners' rights, saying Texas allows gun owners to carry firearms in places owned or leased by government entities unless otherwise prohibited by law.
After an appeals court earlier this week denied Paxton's request for a stay, the attorney general on Wednesday filed a writ of mandamus with the state Supreme Court.
"If they can contract out of following state law — what the Legislature intended, which was to protect government property and allow people to carry and defend themselves — if they can just contract out of that, then state law can just be worked around every single time. So there's no way this decision is right," he said during an appearance on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
Paxton said the decision does not bode well for the newly formed court that it would make such an improper decision.
"And it's unfortunate because this a brand new court of appeals. The 15th Court was just created by the Legislature, and this was their very first decision — a three-judge panel making the wrong decision. We need to pay attention to this court, because they're off to a bad start," he added.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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