A federal judge in Florida has ruled that a U.S. law banning possession of firearms inside post offices is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizell, an appointee of former President Trump, expanded gun rights Friday when she issued a ruling dismissing part of an indictment against a postal worker for illegally possessing a gun. He cited a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Federal facility.
The Supreme Court's 2022 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen decision recognized an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense and established a new test for evaluating firearm regulations. , said it “must be consistent with the historical traditions of this country.” Regarding firearms regulations. ”
Mizell said the charges against U.S. Postal Service truck driver Emanuel Ayala violate his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
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A view of the U.S. Post Office in Bethesda, Maryland, on August 21, 2020. – U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he will weaken mail delivery after President Donald Trump's comments raised concerns that the U.S. Postal Service could undermine mail delivery. He denied the claim that he had done so. He was stonewalled to help his chances in the November election. (Mandel Gann/AFP via Getty Images)
”[A] “Blank restrictions on firearm possession in post offices are inconsistent with America's tradition of firearms regulation,” she wrote.
However, the judge did not dismiss another charge of forcibly resisting arrest.
Ayala, who works in Tampa, had a concealed weapons permit and carried a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in his fanny pack for self-defense, attorneys said.
Prosecutors said the suspect brought a gun onto Postal Service property in 2012, fled when federal agents tried to detain him, and was later charged.
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Ayala was charged under a law that broadly prohibits possession of firearms on federal property, including post offices.
Mizell said the post office has been around since the nation's founding, and federal law didn't ban guns in government buildings until 1964, and post offices until 1972. He said there is no historical practice dating back to the 1700s that justifies the ban.
The judge said that allowing the federal government to restrict the ability of visitors to bring guns to government facilities would “take away the right to bear arms by effectively restricting them to no weapons.” .
Reuters contributed to this report.
