By Dave Workman
A federal judge in Texas who was appointed by President Donald Trump has struck down the ban on firearms carried in U.S. Post Offices, declaring the prohibition unconstitutional.
Judge Reed O’Connor with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, wrote in his three-page opinion, the federal statute “is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment with respect to Plaintiffs’ (and their members) possession and carrying of firearms inside of an ordinary United States Post Office or the surrounding Post Office property. An ordinary United States Post Office is defined as a United States Post Office that is not located inside of (1) a Military Base or similarly restricted access area, or (2) a Federally owned or leased building housing government functions other than a United States Post Office in which carrying a firearm would otherwise be prohibited.”
According to the Washington Times, O’Connor’s ruling says the gun ban “cannot survive scrutiny after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in the Bruen case. That ruling said that for firearms restrictions to stand, they must be consistent with what the founders who crafted the Second Amendment would have envisioned.”
In the founding era, there was no ban on firearms in post offices, the newspaper noted.
Cheering the decision was the Second Amendment Foundation, which brought the case along with the Firearms Policy Coalition and two private citizens.
“This is a huge win for SAF and its members,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “There is no historical analogue to justify a ban on carrying a firearm on postal property, and we are pleased the court rightly saw through this thinly veiled attempt at preventing citizens from fully exercising their constitutional rights.”
“Millions of people across the country visit the U.S. Post Office as part of their daily routine,” SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut observed. “As we’ve stated throughout this case, there is no historical tradition of banning firearms at post offices, and peaceable Americans all over the country should not be forced to choose between using basic postal services and the exercise of their fundamental rights. Today’s ruling is an encouraging step towards restoring these rights.”
“As we’ve said all along, governments cannot ban weapons in unsecured public spaces, full stop,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in a statement to the media. “For too long, peaceable people have been threatened with prosecution simply for carrying weapons for self-defense while mailing a package or buying stamps. That ends here. The Second Amendment simply does not permit governments to invent new so-called ‘gun-free zones’ wherever they please.”
Workman is editor-in-chief at TheGunMag.com
