Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a long-awaited lawsuit against the city of Austin, Mayor Steve Adler, and each member of City Council last Wednesday, arguing that the defendants erred in their interpretation of Texas’ open carry law when they chose to prohibit licensed gun holders from openly carrying weapons into City Hall.
The seven-page suit comes after 11 months of discourse, which began last September when a citizen complaint was filed by Michael Cargill, a former City Council candidate and owner of Central Texas Gun Works. The city argued then that it was allowed to forbid guns at City Hall because the building houses the meetings of Council, most boards and commissions, and certain hearings of the Downtown Community Court. Texas Penal Code, Sec. 46.03 bans guns from “the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court.”
Paxton dropped Cargill’s complaint in March when the city removed signage prohibiting guns within the building, but tracked back the next month when the temporary signage got replaced by a permanent fixture the city had etched onto a glass window. The two parties exchanged a back-and-forth through June, with Paxton delivering a final notice of violation on July 5. His lawsuit seeks civil penalties of $1,500 for every day the city is in violation of the law, as well as having guns allowed inside the city’s governing hub.
A statement released by city legal shortly after the lawsuit’s filing reiterated the city’s stance: “It is a criminal offense under Texas law to possess or carry a handgun on the premises of a government court or offices used by the court … we believe state law prohibits possessing or carrying a weapon in City Hall.”
This article appears in August 5 • 2016.