Case Summary
Issue:
Whether the Second Amendment prohibits the Postal Service from denying the right to keep and bear arms on Post Office property?
Plaintiffs:
Tab Bonidy; National Association for Gun Rights
Defendants:
United States Postal Service; John Potter, Postmaster General; Steve Ruehle, Postmaster, Avon, Colorado
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Case History
Tab Bonidy, who lives in rural Colorado, where home mail service is not available, must drive 10 miles roundtrip to Avon to collect his mail. On arrival there, however, Mr. Bonidy, who is licensed to carry a handgun and regularly carry a handgun for self-defense, is barred by Postal Service regulation from carrying a firearm or parking his vehicle, if it contains a firearm, on Postal Service property. On July 22, 2010, Mr. Bonidy asked the Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service to withdraw the regulation to permit him to exercise his Second Amendment rights. That request was denied on August 3, 2010.
In 2007, the Postal Service renewed a longstanding total ban on firearms on Postal Service property, which states: āNotwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation, no person while on Postal property may carry firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, or explosives, either openly or concealed, or store the same on Postal property, except for official purposes. 39 C.F.R. Ā§ 232.1(l). This regulatory prohibition, which carries a fine or imprisonment for 30 days, or both, is broader than the federal statute, which prohibits private possession of firearms in federal facilities, except those firearms carried āincident to hunting or other lawful purposes.ā 18 U.S.C. Ā§ 930(d)(3). This statutory exception does not apply in federal court facilities, where a total ban is enforced. 18 U.S.C. Ā§ 930(e)(1).
The Postal Serviceās total ban on firearms possession impairs the right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment because that right cannot be exercised when individuals are traveling to, from, or through Postal property because the Postal Service does not allow people to store a firearm safely in their vehicles. Anyone with a hunting rifle or shotgun in his car, or a handgun in his glove compartment for self-defense, violates the Postal Service ban by driving onto Postal Service property. Thus, the ban denies the right to keep and bear arms everywhere a law-abiding gun owner travels before and after visiting Postal Service property.
On October 4, 2010, Mr. Bonidy and the National Association for Gun Rights, represented by MSLF, filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. On October 25, 2010, the Mr. Bonidy filed an amended complaint.
On December 6, 2010, the federal defendants filed a motion to dismiss. On January 14, 2011, Mr. Bonidy filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss. On February 11, 2011, the federal defendants filed a reply. A hearing on the motion to dismiss was held on March 21, 2011. On March 21, 2011, the district court granted the motion to dismiss with leave to file an amended complaint. Mr. Bonidy filed an amended complaint on April 8, 2011.
On April 2, 2011, the federal defendants filed another motion to dismiss. Mr. Bonidy filed his opposition to the motion to dismiss on May 19, 2011. The federal defendants filed their reply to Mr. Bonidy’s response on June 6, 2011. On July 8, 2011, Mr. Bonidy filed a notice of supplemental authority.
