State tells judge armed Austin man should have been allowed in City Hall
Lawyers for the Texas attorney generals office told a Travis County state judge this week that the city of Austin violated state gun laws and should be fined $750,000 for turning away a licensed firearm holder from City Hall in 2016.
But attorneys representing the city said the law is poorly written and that Austin found some workarounds that keep guns out of some buildings owned by the local government.
The dispute arose from a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxtons office in July 2016. The suit stated security guards at City Hall blocked local gun activist Michael Cargill, who has a concealed gun permit, from entering the building on multiple occasions. The building had a sign etched in glass prohibiting the presence of guns even though, according to the suit, City Hall was not exempt under the law the same way that a courthouse would be.
Paxtons office is asking state District Judge Lora Livingston to require the city to comply with the law and to fine Austin $1,500 a day for the first 500 days it kept firearm holders out of the building since the lawsuit was filed.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190108/state-tells-judge-armed-austin-man-should-have-been-allowed-in-city-hall