Texas AG Demands Austin Allow Guns Into City Hall, Suggests Fines

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Texas attorney general's office wants Austin to allow people to carry their firearms into City Hall in compliance with the state's "open carry" law, suggesting the city should be fined $1,500 a day for not complying with its provisions.

In a press advisory issued on Thursday, Attorney General Ken Paxton touted arguments made in a trial this week in district court seeking to compel the city to allow residents to tote their firearms into city quarters. Paxton argues the city is being non-compliant in adhering to the state's "open carry" law enacted on Jan. 1, 2016, that was championed by conservatives as an unfettered, public expression of Second Amendment rights. For good measure, Republicans pushed for passage of a "campus carry" law as complement that compels state-funded colleges and universities to allow the display of weapons on campuses by gun-owning residents.

“The city of Austin cannot defy Texas’ licensed carry laws, or any state law enacted by the Texas Legislature, simply because it disagrees with the law or feels like ignoring it,” Paxton said in a prepared statement. “I will always vigilantly protect and preserve the Second Amendment rights of Texans, and I’m hopeful the Travis County district court will uphold Texas’ open carry law passed by the people’s representatives.”

Paxton previously filed a lawsuit in July 2016 against the City of Austin after a resident with a concealed gun permit complained of being turned away from City Hall on several occasions. In his press advisory, Paxton noted the city can be fined $1,500 a day for more than 500 days during which the city has barred citizens with a handgun license from bringing handguns into City Hall since the lawsuit was filed.

The upshot: "The attorney general’s legal team asked the Travis County district court to impose a total fine of over $750,000" for barring firearms into City Hall, Paxton wrote.

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Texas law also supplants the companion open carry laws in prohibiting people from bringing firearms into courtrooms. Also, private businesses are allowed to opt out of the law as untold scores have done in the immediate aftermath of gun carry laws' passage by posting specially tailored signs alerting to such bans.

But Austin City Hall is not among the sites that can opt out, Paxton insists: "While Texas law prohibits people from bringing firearms into courtrooms or court offices, the exemption does not apply to Austin City Hall. Even if a building has a courtroom, guns must be allowed in parts of the building that aren’t exclusive to courthouse functions."

In the wake of the "open carry" law, the licensed carry of handguns (whether carried openly or concealed) is allowed throughout the Texas Capitol. Each public entrance to the Texas Capitol includes a special line allowing licensed gun holders to bypass the metal detectors and X-ray machines.

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>>> Photo of specially made sign allowing retailers to opt out of "open carry" law at HEB store, 2400 S. Congress Ave., by Tony Cantú/Patch staff

Editor's note: Story revised from earlier version that mischaracterized gun policy at Texas capitol.