A federal judge in Florida has ruled that a US law that prohibits people from possessing firearms inside post offices is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of former President Trump, cited a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights when she handed down her ruling Friday that dismissed part of an indictment that charged a postal worker for illegal possession of a weapon in a federal facility.
The Supreme Court's 2022 ruling New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen recognized a person's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense and established a new test for evaluating firearms restrictions that, as he said, it must be “consistent with the historical tradition of this nation.” of firearms regulation.”
Mizelle said the charge against U.S. Postal Service truck driver Emmanuel Ayala violated his right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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A view of a U.S. post office in Bethesda, Maryland, on Aug. 21, 2020. – U.S. Postmaster General Louis De Joy denied claims that he was working to undermine the mail delivery after comments by US President Donald Trump sparked fears that the US Postal Service was being sabotaged to improve its chances in the November election. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“[A] “The widespread restriction of firearms possession in post offices is inconsistent with the American tradition of firearms regulation,” he wrote.
But the judge declined to dismiss a separate charge of forcibly resisting arrest.
Ayala, who works in Tampa, had a concealed weapons permit and carried a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in a fanny pack for self-defense, according to his attorneys.
Prosecutors said he took the gun onto Postal Service property in 2012 and fled from federal agents when they tried to stop him, and he was later indicted.
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United States Post Office (USPS) mail truck speeding in Miami, Florida – motion blur panoramic. (iStock)
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Ayala was charged under a statute that broadly prohibits the possession of a firearm in a federal facility, including a post office.
Mizelle said post offices have existed since the founding of the country and that federal law did not ban guns in government buildings until 1964 and post offices until 1972. He said there is no historical practice dating back to the 18th century. that justifies the ban.
The judge said allowing the federal government to restrict visitor access to government facilities would allow it to “restrict the right to bear arms by regulating it to virtual nonexistence.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
