DEL MAR —— The San Diego County Fair has agreed to seek a formal state attorney general's opinion of its policy against allowing off-duty officers to carry their guns into the fair, Jay Van Rein, a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said Wednesday.

The move comes as law enforcement officers throughout the county publicly protest the policy first used at last year's fair. They say it is unsafe for officers and the public.

Fair spokeswoman Linda Zweig said Wednesday the policy was adopted by the fair's general manager, Tim Fennel, after the fairgrounds consulted with the state attorney general's office.

Zweig said she couldn't reach Fennel for comment Wednesday, because he was in meetings.

James Duffy, president of the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County, said he is exploring an injunction that would prohibit enforcing the policy. The heads of the San Diego and Escondido police unions and the state Peace Officers Research Association of California have said they will support that.

"We're very pleased that the legality of the decision by Tom Fennel is being reviewed by proper authority," Duffy said.

Law enforcement officers said they object to the local policy because they run the risk of encountering people at the fair that they have arrested or held in jails. The policy also goes against the national anti-terrorism effort, they said.

Van Rein, the state agricultural department spokesman, said a recommendation to seek the opinion was reached Wednesday morning after officials discussed a June 15 letter sent by state Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa, to A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture.

"The recommendation is that the (San Diego County) fair seek a formal legal opinion from the state attorney general's office," said Van Rein. "The attorney general's office is aware that the request will be coming."

Staff from the fair's management and the offices of La Suer, the state attorney general and the agriculture department were involved in the policy discussion, Van Rein said.

The department generally oversees the 78 fair districts in the state. La Suer's two-page letter blasts the San Diego County Fair's policy, described by Van Rein as "not common."

Van Rein said he didn't know whether any other fairs in California have similar policies, but that officers are allowed to carry their weapons at the state fair.

La Suer, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, wrote that if the fair board decides to keep the policy he will seek legislation to change it.

Both federal and state statute is clear about a sworn peace officer's authority to carry concealed weapons at publicly owned venues, the letter said.

Federal laws do provide an exception for state laws that prohibit firearms on state or local government property, but Fennel's policy memo "cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute a 'law' of the state," La Suer wrote.

The letter also noted that a section of the state attorney general's Web site points out that the federal Law Enforcement Safety Act (HR 218) enacted in mid-July trumps state law, local ordinances and local policy that restrict officers from carrying concealed weapons off duty.

Earlier in the day, Zweig said that Fennel established the zero-tolerance policy on guns after the fair's head of security, retired area law enforcement officer Pat Kerins, researched it and the attorney general's office said it was legal.

"This wasn't just a random thought," Zweig said. "We're not mavericks here."

She said the fair board didn't vote on the policy. The board chairman couldn't be reached for comment.

Duffy and Bill Nemec, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said Fennell didn't respond to their phone calls and letters last year or this year about the policy until officers went to the media during the fair's first weekend this year to encourage a public boycott.

Duffy said Fennel called him June 13 and set up a meeting June 16, at which Fennel and Kerins talked about their concerns with him. He said he told them they could be resolved if the fair simply imposed the same requirements that allow officers to carry guns at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Petco Park and other local places.

"You could put those same restrictions in effect at the fairgrounds, and we could live with that," Duffy said.

Fennel said he would talk about the policy with fair staff and get back to him, but Duffy said he hasn't heard anything yet.

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.