Concealed carry at the Texas State OH NO: CCW at Texas State Fair HOLD YOUR HORSES

OH NO: CCW at Texas State Fair HOLD YOUR HORSES

Gregg Kielma Tactical K Training and Firearms

Concealed carry at the Texas State Fair has suffered yet another setback in the courtroom, and the reason is becoming increasingly clear: the legal system continues to affirm that the State Fair of Texas, despite operating on city‑owned property, is a private entity with the authority to set its own firearm policies. For Texans who believe licensed carry should not be stripped away by a private operator using public land, this latest ruling feels less like a surprise and more like a confirmation of a trend that has been building for years.

The most recent decision from the 15th Court of Appeals reinforced the same conclusion that previous courts have reached. The judges held that Texas Government Code §411.209 applies only to government bodies, not private organizations. Because the State Fair is run by a private nonprofit, the statute simply doesn’t apply. The Attorney General’s office argued that the City of Dallas should be held responsible since it owns Fair Park, but the court rejected that argument outright. Dallas leases the property and does not impose, direct, or enforce the Fair’s gun ban. Without evidence that the city violated the statute, the lawsuit collapses before it can reach any constitutional question.

This ruling also underscores a procedural misstep by the plaintiffs: the constitutional challenge under the Texas Constitution was not pursued on appeal, so the court treated it as waived. That leaves only the statutory argument, which the plaintiffs lost again. As a result, the broader question whether the Fair’s ban violates Texans’ constitutional right to bear arms remains unanswered, and concealed carry supporters are left without a clear path to challenge the policy on constitutional grounds.

The setback is especially frustrating because legislative efforts to address this loophole stalled. Senate Bill 1065, which would have required government contracts to prevent private operators from banning licensed carry-on public property, passed the Senate but died before reaching the governor’s desk. With the courts consistently siding with the State Fair and the legislature failing to act, the legal landscape is tilting firmly in favor of the Fair’s authority to prohibit firearms.

From my perspective, this latest defeat isn’t just another bump in the road it’s a sign that the current legal strategy is fundamentally mismatched to how Texas courts interpret the law. As long as the State Fair remains classified as a private operator, and as long as Dallas remains insulated by governmental immunity, concealed carry at the Texas State Fair will remain off‑limits. For Texans who believe licensed carry is a right that shouldn’t be erased by a private organization operating on public land, this ruling is more than disappointing. It’s a reminder that meaningful change will require either a legislative fix or a carefully structured constitutional challenge that the courts cannot sidestep.

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