Federal judge rules ban on firearms in post offices unconstitutional

A federal judge in Florida ruled a U.S. law that prohibits people from having firearms in post offices to be unconstitutional, the latest court decision declaring gun restrictions violate the Constitution. 

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee, cited the 2022 Supreme Court ruling “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen” that expanded gun rights. The 2022 ruling recognized the individual’s right to bear a handgun in public for self-defense. 

The judge shared her decision in the indictment that charged Emmanuel Ayala, U.S. Postal Service truck driver, with illegal possession of a firearm in a federal building. 

The judge did not dismiss Ayala’s separate charge of resisting arrest, but did note that the firearm charge violated his Second Amendment rights, saying it is “incongruent” with the “American” tradition of “firearms regulations.”

“A blanket restriction on firearms possession in post offices is incongruent with the American tradition of firearms regulation,” Mizelle wrote. 

Ayala’s indictment came after prosecutors stated he brought a gun onto the Postal Service property. He fled the location in 2022 after federal agents attempted to detain him and was eventually by the Tampa Police Department.

Ayala had a concealed weapons permit but was charged under a statute prohibiting having firearms in federal facilities. He carried a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun for self-defense. 

The judge said that post offices have existed since the nation’s foundation and that the federal law did not forbid carrying firearms into post offices until 1972. She added that restrictions on the grounds of admittance would “abridge the right to bear arms by regulating it into practical non-existence.”

Reuters first reported on the ruling.