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Texas County Sues Gun Rights Activist

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This news story seems like a reversal of the typical gun rights lawsuit roles. A Texas county has sued a gun rights activist who complained that the law against bringing firearms into a public building was unlawful.

The lawsuit was filed by Waller County, near Houston, against Terry Holcomb Sr., the executive director of Texas Carry, a gun rights organization. Holcomb is a vocal protester who has sent dozens of letters to local governments and other groups over the firearm restrictions. Holcomb, among others, say that public spaces such as Austin City Hall, the Dallas Zoo, a nature preserve and a Houston convention center have unlawfully banned firearms.

The Waller County courthouse prevents guns from being brought into its facility, but Attorney General Ken Paxton’s public opinion is that firearms can’t be uniformly prohibited.

The decision to sue Holcomb makes this more of a Second Amendment issue, according to Holcomb. “We can agree or disagree on the gun issue but this is different than that,” he said, contending that the county’s suit is frivolous and “borderline official oppression.” Holcomb has countersued.

A Waller County representative says that the purpose of the lawsuit, according to District Attorney Elton Mathis, is simply seeking a ruling by a state judge affirming that the county does have the legal right to ban guns from the entire courthouse facility. The county is seeking up to $100,000 in damages from Holcomb, but Mathis asserts that is not going to be pursued.

Critics say that they understand that they feel a judge needs to make the final decision, but suing Holcomb may not be the right way to go about solving this matter. There are state protections against filing “frivolous lawsuits,” which this may qualify as.

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