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.

  • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    This is a ridiculous ruling, but the reason the ban on guns in post offices makes many gun owners so angry is that unlike pretty much any other no-gun zone laws, it includes all of the property, including the parking lot.

    So if a licensed person removes their gun and leaves it in the car so they can go into the post office, they’ve still committed a felony by parking there.

    So instead they’ll park in the street. And if the lot is mostly empty and there’s a car parked in the street in front of the post office, it’s a bright neon sign to thieves that breaking into that car will score them a gun.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Some people are required to carry firearms. If your job is armed security, you shouldn’t have a potential felony charge for going to the post office after work and dropping a letter in the night drop with your gun locked in the car.

        Just have federal buildings follow the laws of the states they’re in regarding the definition of premises for firearms. That is - apply it to the buildings, but not to the cars in the parking lot.

        • ettyblatant@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          FWIW, the amount of security guardsin Florida is pretty small at 0.4032%. I don’t know the percent of those who carry for work, but the number of cops that carried (all data 20/21/22) was also small at 0.246%. Combined, that gets us to the measurable number of Job Guns at .649% of the population in 21/22.

          The idea that these people’s hindrances should even be acknowledged, let alone come into consideration when making or tossing out laws, is fucking absurd.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      That’s common to all federal property though. I’ve literally never been to a federal property that wasn’t posted for no guns anywhere on the property.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Not all. They carved out an exception for National Parks that has the land adopting the rules of the state in which they’re located, with the firearm bans only in place in buildings. They need to do the same with Corps of Engineers parks and post offices.

          • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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            8 months ago

            Wilderness Area is an entirely different designation from a national park. They aren’t administered by the park service but instead by the Forest Service and they don’t typically come with amenities/facilities apart from trailhead parking lots, usually a trail system and sometimes designated campsites and the like. Just FYI. Not that it really matters in this context.

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Well yeah, except all of the interior land management agencies have wildernesses they mandate. Park, Forest, BLM, and even Fish and Wildlife.

    • phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Sooooo, you just leave your gun at home since there is no good reason to carry it around everywhere?

      Seriously what’s up with Americans and police? In other countries people trust the police because frankly, they can, but also frankly, because they’re not insane. Yes, insane, because the obsession people have with guns is insane,and the obsession with safety and freedom is insane as well