DOJ Drops Appeal in Post Office Gun Ban Case

The list of places where governments can automatically declare the 2A off-limits may have gotten a little shorter.

According to reporting from NRA-ILA, the U.S. Department of Justice has voluntarily withdrawn its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked enforcement of the federal ban on carrying firearms at U.S. Post Office facilities. While the decision doesn’t strike down the law nationwide, it leaves a lower court ruling in place that found the government failed to justify the restriction under today’s Second Amendment standards.

For gun owners, that’s another notable development in the post-Bruen legal landscape.

For decades, federal law and U.S. Postal Service regulations broadly prohibited law-abiding citizens from possessing firearms on post office property. That meant neighborhood post offices (places millions of Americans visit every day) were treated as gun-free zones, even for people who legally carry firearms under state law.

Critics have long argued that the policy made little sense because local post offices don’t screen visitors for weapons like courthouses or airports. Instead, they relied largely on voluntary compliance by law-abiding citizens.

The legal landscape changed dramatically in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. That ruling held that modern gun laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, rather than being justified simply by public safety arguments.

Applying that framework, a federal district court concluded the government failed to show there was a historical tradition supporting a blanket ban on carrying firearms at ordinary neighborhood post offices. The court also rejected the idea that every government-owned building automatically qualifies as a “sensitive place” where the Second Amendment no longer applies.

Rather than continue fighting that ruling on appeal, the Justice Department quietly walked away from the case.

The DOJ’s filing consisted of just two brief sentences dismissing its appeal, offering no explanation for the decision.

The move fits a broader pattern under the Trump administration’s Justice Department, which has shown a greater willingness to reconsider federal firearm restrictions that may not survive constitutional review under Bruen. In recent months, the department has also challenged or declined to defend several other gun regulations that lack clear historical support.

The decision also comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wolford v. Lopez, which reinforced that governments cannot simply label ordinary public places as “sensitive places” without pointing to comparable restrictions from the nation’s founding era.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean concealed carry is now legal at every post office in America. The federal regulation remains on the books, and the DOJ’s decision not to appeal doesn’t create binding nationwide precedent.

Still, it’s an important win for Second Amendment advocates.

Beyond post offices, the case could have implications for other laws restricting lawful carry in parks, public transit, recreational facilities and similar government-owned locations. As more of those cases work their way through the courts, governments will increasingly have to show that modern gun restrictions have deep historical roots. Not simply argue they’re good public policy.

For gun-rights groups, that’s exactly the constitutional test Bruen was designed to require.

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