In response, like so many others, the Texas State Fair decided that no one could carry a firearm. There's been some legal skirmishing on the issue, which the fair has come out on top of. 

It seems, though, that Attorney General Ken Paxton wasn't finished. He found some help in the form of a couple of attendees who say their right to keep and bear arms was violated. Now, they're suing the fair.

Three fairgoers have joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 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 the latest maneuver from Paxton in an ongoing battle surrounding the State Fair and its gun ban. In September, a day before the event kicked off, the Texas Supreme Court denied Paxton's request to overturn the policy — stating it has no role to “decide whether the State Fair made a wise decision” — after a Dallas district court judge allowed the gun ban to stand.

Paxton filed the update naming the newest plaintiffs in his ongoing case before the Dallas district court, which is expected to have another hearing next year.

In it, Paxton accuses State Fair and city officials of violating state law that bars most government bodies from prohibiting weapons on their properties. Paxton also says officials violated the constitutional rights to bear arms of fairgoers Maxx Juusola, Tracy Martin, and Alan Crider. They ask for up to $1 million in civil damages and to allow people to carry guns on the fairground.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Paxton said in a press release that he would continue to press the issue on “the merits to uphold Texans’ ability to defend themselves.”

Will this have any real impact? Well, the three attendees have legal standing to file a lawsuit on the issue, at least in theory, because they were prevented from exercising their rights. You can't sue on something because you might be impacted, you have to be impacted first, and then you can file a lawsuit.

So, these folks apparently have that.

Did they go just to have standing? I don't think it matters. This is an event open to the public and held on publicly owned land that's been leased by a private entity. It's not private property, though, which is where the crux of the matter is.

However, at the end of the day, the biggest thing here is something the courts aren't going to rule on at all, and that's the absolute stupidity of trying to ban criminals from carrying guns by banning the law-abiding from carrying them.

Last year's problems weren't the result of law-abiding citizens and their firearms. It was the polar opposite, for crying out loud.

I'd hoped the Texas State Fair would see the error of its ways and look for alternative security efforts that would work to deal with armed criminals while respecting lawfully armed citizens, but that was apparently too complicated. So, they did what far too many people do. They punish those who did nothing for the actions of those who aren't going to be stopped by the punishment.

It's just sad that we keep ending up here time and time again. 

Now, a court will decide if they can lawfully do it, even as it should also be deciding how idiotic they are for even trying in the first place.