US court picks ex-judge Costa to defend Texas limits on guns in bars

By Mike Scarcella

May 9 (Reuters) - A former U.S. appeals judge has been appointed to defend a Texas law restricting the open carrying of firearms at bars, sporting events and racetracks, after the state's attorney general declined to do so.

In an order on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth named retired judge Gregg Costa, now a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, and law professor Eric Ruben to defend the law from a challenge by gun rights advocates.

Costa, based in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office, was an Obama-era appointee to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and served from 2014 to his retirement in 2022.

Ruben is a professor at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he is a scholar on the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

Several Texas residents and the Firearms Policy Coalition filed a lawsuit last year contending that restrictions at issue run afoul of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that expanded gun rights.

In a statement, Firearms Policy Coalition president Brandon Combs on Friday welcomed the appointment of Costa and Ruben and said the group was focused on "litigating this case to secure the right to bear arms in Texas."

Ruben, Costa and the Texas attorney general’s office also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a court filing last month, Texas said it disputed that the plaintiffs have legal standing to pursue their lawsuit, but also that the state does not contest the claims.

The plaintiffs told Pittman that “Texas is part of a distinct minority of states when it comes to banning individuals from carrying [firearms] in bars and restaurants.”

Their lawsuit does not challenge the state’s ban on carrying firearms while intoxicated, and it does not challenge the power of private property owners — including bars, restaurants and sports stadiums — to impose firearms rules on their premises.

U.S. judges can appoint a third-party attorney to defend a law or regulation when a state or law enforcement officer chooses not to contest a legal challenge.

The case is Charles Ziegenfuss et al v. Freeman Martin, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, No. 4:24-cv-01049-P.

For plaintiffs: Bradley Benbrook and Stephen Duvernay of Benbrook Law Group, and R. Brent Cooper of Cooper & Scully

For Texas: Ryan Kercher and Zachary Rhines of the Texas attorney general’s office

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