Travis County votes to keep gun show contract

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to honor the existing contract with the organizer of the gun shows at the Travis County Expo.

The unanimous vote came after the five-member body met with its lawyers and heard from people with an interest in the topic.

The action also came after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last week used his Twitter account to threaten commissioners with a lawsuit if they went forward with a proposal to ban gun shows at county-owned venues.

“The first thing we ought to do is huddle with legal counsel in executive session for a follow up legal briefing,” Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe said before the vote. "We discussed it in part last Tuesday, and the preliminary determination was that we probably did not have the authority -- which is why we didn’t take any action. ”

Biscoe signaled early in the day that commissioners would take actio, even if that’s just declaring that they don’t have the authority to ban gun shows.

“At one point, I think the right thing is for us to land on whatever legal authority we have and then follow with," said Biscoe. "And if we don’t have the legal authority to keep gun shows out of the Expo Center, so be it."

Abbott defended the gun shows on Twitter and warned of a showdown if this were to go through. He said on the social media site, “If Austin or Travis Co. try to ban gun shows they better be ready for a double-barreled lawsuit."

In an interview on Thursday, he said state law would trump local government.

The topic of banning gun shows was brought up in light of the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. During the comment session, someone questioned the use of government-owned property to host gun shows. 

Biscoe said he received a couple hundred emails after the comment, adding that was the reason he had stuck it on the agenda.

Biscoe said if the county can’t get background checks for individuals who purchase firearms from private individuals, he doesn’t think there’s anything they can do.

“I’ve been told, preliminarily though, that we can’t even do that,” explained Biscoe. “So at some point, the question really is: What, if anything, can we do? And the answer to that may be: Nothing. Which I’m prepared to live with."

Opponents argue the county would lose $128,000 in rental-fee revenues from the pending contracts of the nine Saxet Gun Show events scheduled this year.

Biscoe said if they were to cancel those contracts, it’s more than likely the county would face legal battles for damages.