Lenny Benedetto
Regular Member
imported post
I just saw this on another forum...Some food for thought. How many carry daily and just leave your gun in the car when you have to enter the Post Office???
Hell I did it yesterday!!!!
http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gun-R ... rking-lots
On October 14, 2009 the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the conviction of a postal employee for possessing a gun in his vehicle while parked on a non-public United States Postal Service (USPS) parking lot in violation of a federal regulation at 39 CFR 232.1(l). The court’s opinion in United States v. Doroson can be found here.
Mr. Doroson had appealed the conviction on the ground that the USPS gun ban violated the Second Amendment. The Fifth Circuit panel disagreed, writing that
“the Postal Service used the parking lot for loading mail and staging its mail trucks. Given this usage of the parking lot by the Postal Service as a place of regular government business, it falls under the ‘sensitive places’ exception recognized by Heller.”
The Court did not indicate whether the Second Amendment would protect gun owners from prosecution if they possess a gun in the public areas of USPS property. Even though USPS parking lots are often indistinguishable from other public parking lots, and are not posted to warn the public of the gun ban, USPS spokesperson Joanne Vito told the Examiner.com that 39 CFR 232.1(l)
“applies to anyone coming into a Post Office or a Postal facility. The regulation prohibiting the possession of firearms or other weapons applies to all real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service. . . . Both open and concealed possession are prohibited, so storage of a weapon on a car parked in a lot that is under the charge and control of the Postal Service would be prohibited.”
However, adding further complexity to issue, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) explains here that postal customers may legally mail long guns through the USPS:
“(B7) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.” (emphasis and color in original).
Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Virginia’s largest gun rights group, said that the Postal Service is just “setting a trap” for the many gun owners who now carry their guns on a daily basis and may not even know about this parking lot gun ban. “Even the National Park gun ban allowed folks to store their guns in their cars,” said Van Cleave, “and Congress repealed that milder ban” effective February 2010.
I just saw this on another forum...Some food for thought. How many carry daily and just leave your gun in the car when you have to enter the Post Office???
Hell I did it yesterday!!!!
http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gun-R ... rking-lots
On October 14, 2009 the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the conviction of a postal employee for possessing a gun in his vehicle while parked on a non-public United States Postal Service (USPS) parking lot in violation of a federal regulation at 39 CFR 232.1(l). The court’s opinion in United States v. Doroson can be found here.
Mr. Doroson had appealed the conviction on the ground that the USPS gun ban violated the Second Amendment. The Fifth Circuit panel disagreed, writing that
“the Postal Service used the parking lot for loading mail and staging its mail trucks. Given this usage of the parking lot by the Postal Service as a place of regular government business, it falls under the ‘sensitive places’ exception recognized by Heller.”
The Court did not indicate whether the Second Amendment would protect gun owners from prosecution if they possess a gun in the public areas of USPS property. Even though USPS parking lots are often indistinguishable from other public parking lots, and are not posted to warn the public of the gun ban, USPS spokesperson Joanne Vito told the Examiner.com that 39 CFR 232.1(l)
“applies to anyone coming into a Post Office or a Postal facility. The regulation prohibiting the possession of firearms or other weapons applies to all real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service. . . . Both open and concealed possession are prohibited, so storage of a weapon on a car parked in a lot that is under the charge and control of the Postal Service would be prohibited.”
However, adding further complexity to issue, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) explains here that postal customers may legally mail long guns through the USPS:
“(B7) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.” (emphasis and color in original).
Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Virginia’s largest gun rights group, said that the Postal Service is just “setting a trap” for the many gun owners who now carry their guns on a daily basis and may not even know about this parking lot gun ban. “Even the National Park gun ban allowed folks to store their guns in their cars,” said Van Cleave, “and Congress repealed that milder ban” effective February 2010.