Texas Admitted These Gun Bans Are Unconstitutional. Now FPC Is Asking a Federal Court to Kill Them.
Key Takeaways
- The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is appealing three Texas laws that restrict gun owners from carrying in bars, restaurants, and at sporting events.
- Texas conceded that these laws violate the Second Amendment, but the trial court upheld them despite this concession.
- FPC argues these bans are historically unjustified, referencing the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision that protects public carry for self-defense.
- Only 14 states ban carry in bars and restaurants, making Texas an outlier among states like California and New York.
- A ruling from the Fifth Circuit would have implications beyond Texas, potentially affecting gun rights in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
NEW ORLEANS, LA — The Firearms Policy Coalition has taken Texas to the Fifth Circuit over three laws that strip law-abiding gun owners of the right to carry in places people visit every day.
FPC filed its opening brief on June 15 in Ziegenfuss v. Martin, asking the federal appeals court to strike down Texas bans on carrying in bars and restaurants, at sporting events, and at racetracks.
The case challenges three sections of the Texas Penal Code. One bans carry in any business that draws 51 percent or more of its income from alcohol. Another bans carry at high school, college, and professional sporting events. The third bans carry on the premises of a racetrack.
Two of those bans are third-degree felonies, punishable by two to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000. The sporting event ban is a Class A misdemeanor.
The plaintiffs are three licensed Texas carriers, Charles Ziegenfuss, David Montgomery, and Brian Robinson, along with FPC. All three say they want to carry in these locations for self-defense but stay away out of fear of arrest.
Here is the part that stands out to me. Texas did not even defend these laws. The state conceded in the district court that all three bans violate the Second Amendment.
Because the state refused to defend the statutes, the trial judge appointed outside attorneys to argue for them. The court then upheld all three bans anyway in a March 24 ruling. FPC appealed the same day.
The brief leans on the Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which protects a general right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Under that standard, the government must show a law fits this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
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FPC argues Texas cannot meet that test. Taverns were everywhere at the Founding, yet no Founding-era legislature banned carrying inside them. The right, the brief argues, “does not evaporate when a law-abiding Texan walks into a bar.”
The brief also goes after the “sensitive places” idea. Bruen named only three historical sensitive places: polling places, courthouses, and legislative assemblies. Each one came with government-provided security. Texas provides none at the locations covered by these bans.
On the sporting event ban, FPC argues the trial court stretched a narrow history of disarming students on school grounds into a blanket rule covering every adult at any sporting event. The challenge does not touch carry on school campuses, which a separate law already restricts.
On racetracks, the brief notes that American horseracing dates to the 1600s, yet the trial court relied on a single 1868 Tennessee law to justify the ban.
Texas is an outlier. The brief cites figures showing only 14 states ban carry in bars and restaurants, a group that includes California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.
FPC President Brandon Combs said Texas “cannot criminalize carrying firearms in ordinary places people visit every day.”
The Fifth Circuit covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, so a ruling here would reach well beyond Texas. I will follow this appeal through briefing and report on how the court comes down.
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