Court fines Austin for violating state handgun laws
AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The City of Austin has failed to comply with state handgun laws.
That's the ruling of a district court that sided with the Texas Attorney General.
Now, the city is being fined.
The city was in violation nearly three years ago when they refused to allow a gun owner to lawfully carry a firearm into City Hall. Thursday, that gun owner was able to walk right with no trouble.
"We won,” said Michael Cargill, the gun owner who was not let in.
Recently, a district court stated the City of Austin violated state handgun laws after a lawsuit was filed by the Texas Attorney General in 2016. A lawsuit which was centered around Michael Cargill, a CHL instructor and owner of a local gun store. "I feel great. This is a great victory for the 2nd amendment community this is a great victory for every citizen in the state of Texas," said Cargill.
Back in 2015, Austin placed a sign at City Hall stating all handguns were prohibited.
Seeing as how the building is public property, Cargill found this to be illegal.
FOX 7 Austin was with him as he went to City Hall in 2015 to voice his concerns.
While that sign was eventually removed, Cargill says he kept trying to go to city hall but kept getting turned away by security. He turned to the Texas Attorney General where they in turn filed a lawsuit against the city. More than two years later, the district courts took their side.
"This means that every city every municipality needs to follow the law when it comes to license holders being able to carry a hand gun inside their buildings," said Cargill.
Thursday, Cargill walked into City Hall and passed through security, all while carrying a handgun.
"I was very surprised that within hours after the judge handed down that ruling the City of Austin was actually complying," said Cargill. While the city did not want to do an on camera interview, they did release this statement over the court's decision:
For now, Cargill said he will continue to go to City Hall every now and then, just to see if they will still let him and his handgun inside. The city is also getting hit with a $9000 fine in total. This is for everyday they prevented Attorney General investigators from lawfully carrying inside City Hall.
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