Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has reportedly jumped into the legal battle over North Carolina’s discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ law, HB 2.
Advertisement
The law “does not allow a political subdivision of the state to prohibit licensed handgun holders from entering into an entire building simply because the courts or the offices of the courts are located in that multipurpose building”, the suit says.
The state’s licensed-carry law allows government entities to exclude guns from the portion of a building housing an office utilized by a government court, but Paxton said treasurer offices and election offices do not qualify for that exclusion.
Waller County was given final notice several weeks ago to comply with the state law but officials refused, according to the AG’s office.
The lawsuits against Austin and Waller County are likely to be the opening round in an extended legal battle over the scope of the state’s new, more expansive gun laws, with the state’s appellate courts likely to determine the outcome.
Paxton’s office also filed a similar lawsuit against the City of Austin.
County officials took the unusual step last month of suing a gun rights advocate who had complained about the gun ban at the courthouse.
“A lawsuit to collect fines and recover expenses would be unnecessarily punitive, especially considering the pending action to settle the matter”, Dorsey wrote.
Advertisement
Texas Attorney General is suing yet another county in his state over Second Amendment issues.
