On Friday, a Florida federal judge deemed the U.S. law prohibiting firearms in post offices unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled in favor of Emmanuel Ayala, a postal worker accused of having a gun in a federal facility. Mizelle cited the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which broadened gun rights and set a precedent for evaluating firearms laws based on historical tradition.
Ayala, a U.S. Postal Service truck driver, possessed a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in a fanny pack for self-defense, according to his lawyers. He was indicted after allegedly bringing the weapon onto Postal Service property in 2012 and evading federal agents. While a separate charge for resisting arrest was not dismissed, Mizelle struck down the firearms charge, highlighting the constitutional right to bear arms.
Mizelle’s decision follows the Supreme Court’s stance that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to carry handguns in public for self-defense. She noted that the blanket ban on firearms in post offices, established in 1972, did not align with the nation’s long-standing firearms regulation tradition. The judge argued that federal restrictions on guns in government buildings, initiated in 1964, lacked historical precedent dating back to the 1700s.
The ruling challenges the constitutionality of gun restrictions, with Mizelle emphasizing that allowing the government to prohibit firearms in federal facilities could practically nullify the right to bear arms. The Justice Department has not commented on the decision.
