Texas sues to enforce right to carry guns in county courthouse
Responding to complaints from gun-rights advocates pushing for greater access to public buildings, the Texas attorney general has sued a southeast Texas county that tried to ban guns from its courthouse.
“A local government cannot be allowed to flout Texas’s licensed carry laws, or any state law, simply because it disagrees with the law or doesn’t feel like honoring it,” Republican Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton said in a statement announcing the lawsuit Tuesday against Waller County, about 55 miles west of Houston. “I will vigilantly protect and preserve the 2nd Amendment rights of Texans.”
Waller County Judge Trey Duhon said the announcement wasn’t a surprise: Earlier this month, the attorney general’s office substantiated a complaint about the county’s action and notified Waller officials that if they didn’t respond in 15 days, they could face a lawsuit.
“We fully expected it to be filed, and we look forward to a hearing on the merits,” Duhon said. “We believe we are fully complying with what the Texas Legislature intended.”
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-guns-20160830-snap-story.html
