The ruling came after a person was charged with possessing firearms in a post office, which he argued was ‘unconstitutional.’
A federal judge in Florida ruled on Jan. 12 that the U.S. government’s decision to arrest a man for possessing a firearm in a post office violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle for the Middle District of Florida cited the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen case, in which the high court said that the Second Amendment protects a U.S. citizen’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense purposes.
That ruling also set up a new test for judging firearms laws, stating that such legal restrictions should be consistent with the country’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.
Postal worker Emmanuel Ayala was indicted by the United States on charges of violating Section 930(a) of the U.S. Code, which regulates the possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in federal facilities. Mr. Ayala argued that the law is “unconstitutional as applied to him” since historical records don’t support a law banning firearms in post offices.
The United States responded to the Ayala case by stating that “the Second Amendment allows it to punish the bearing of arms inside any government building.”
“But the Supreme Court has been clear: the government must point to historical principles that would permit it to prohibit firearms possession in post offices,” Judge Mizelle wrote.
“The United States fails to meet that burden. Thus, I dismiss the [Section] 930(a) charge because it violates Ayala’s Second Amendment right to bear arms.”
The lawsuit stems from Mr. Ayala’s arrest in 2022, when he was a semi-truck driver for the U.S. Postal Service. From time to time, Mr. Ayala carried his firearms into the post office when retrieving his truck from work “for extra protection” while walking to and from the employee parking lot, the order stated.
On Sept. 14, 2022, two agents from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General attempted to detain him as he walked into the post office. Mr. Ayala ran but was eventually apprehended by the local police. A grand jury indicted him for violating Section 930(a) and forcibly resisting arrest.
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