What do folks here do with their carry gun when they have to go into a post office?

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Don't do it the way I once did --- My J frame rides inboard of my hip bone IWB very comfortably , so comfortably that I can forget that it's there - like a wallet. A while back I was in the local post office. I got to the front of the line and as the postal guy offered a cheerful "How can I help you?" I glanced up to see the NO WEAPONS placard- and came to the uncomfortable realization that "old faithful" was on my person. I smiled to mr postal , reached for my back pocket and said "Darn it - I have to go back to my truck for my wallet."

Once back to the truck I decided to leave altogether.
Good thing there were no metal detectors ; I'm guessing that is in our future.
 
The chances of having your vehicle broken into and searched, in a high foot-traffic area, during the 5 minutes you're in the Post Office seem pretty small.

I hide my gun in my vehicle, and just don't worry about it.
 
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aarondhgraham said:
It's not a state law,,,
It's a federal law.

I'm not going to do the research because I don't really have a dog in the fight,,,
But in the past 3-4 years I've read about convictions for people who were found to have gun in post office parking lots.

Aarond

.
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I would LOVE to see that article !.

In my city we have NEVER,EVER,NEVER made any arrests in any of the 6 post offices !.The lot or main office.

So since I follow the articles dealing with all arrests,I would truly love to see that "arrest" and how the hell the officer knew the person was armed ?.
 
scaatylobo said:
I would LOVE to see that article !.

In my city we have NEVER,EVER,NEVER made any arrests in any of the 6 post offices !.The lot or main office.

So since I follow the articles dealing with all arrests,I would truly love to see that "arrest" and how the hell the officer knew the person was armed ?.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/usa...-says-u-s-appeals-court-idUSL1N0ZC2QF20150626

Reuters) - A federal appeals court said a U.S. Postal Service regulation banning firearms on postal property is constitutional, and reversed a lower court ruling that would have let people keep weapons inside their vehicles in post office parking lots.

By a 2-1 vote on Friday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled against Tab Bonidy, a licensed gun owner who said the restrictions violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Circuit Judge David Ebel said the right to carry firearms does not apply to federal buildings such as post offices, and that while it was a “closer question” he would not second-guess the Postal Service’s extending the ban to its parking lots.
 
old lady new shooter said:
Now that I thankfully finally found a carry modality that is easy and comfortable I'll probably just carry all the time, but I am used to grouping errands. I have to go to the post office almost every day to ship books I sell online (USPS does not give pickup service for media mail) and the idea of making a separate trip for that feels totally wasteful.

Although crime is thankfully very low where I live now and I am usually only inside for literally less than 5 minutes because I just put the packages in the package contraption, probably due to still being fairly recently from Cali I don't feel comfortable just leaving the gun in the car unsecured. OTOH I also don't want to have to fiddle around with some under-the-seat or other hard-to-reach place safe.

What do folks here do?
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Stamps.com....
 
old lady new shooter: when you say "free country of Arizona", do you mean just the countryside, or do the cities still have the Same gun freedoms which they had in the 1960s?

I'm confused by so many laws changing gun laws--or so it seems-- in western cities due to the vast human Exodus from Kali-fornia, to the Promised Lands.
And with so many companies also finding refuge in Texas from Kali (maybe from NY, NJ, MA etc), is this part of the reason for gun laws changing in Texas?
 
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TomJ said:
This. No gun signs in Ilinois carry the force of law, so I need to lock my gun in my car more than I'd like. The lock box fits under my seat, so it's not visible to someone from the outside and it's attached by cable to the frame of the seat. It's not a guarantee that someone can't make off with it, but it's the best option I have.
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I figure a cabled lock box will stop the opertunistic theif and their smash and grab... which like you said they won't see it in the first place. I am sure if a prepared pro thief couldn't get my gun or other valuables out of the car they would just take my whole car or leave it in complete tatters.

To me the cabled lock box is cheap insurance for the ~$30 I paid for it.
 
There is a shipping retail store in my area , privately run business that ships and/or mails through any and all sources , USPS included. Nice facility , excellent service and staff. Packing quickly done for you on the spot ; very reasonable fees. (At the post office I've been told that providing a short piece of tape to secure an envelope is against regulations...) I have never seen anything posted there. The staff is so "on the ball" that the last time I shipped to Ahlman's the guy recognized the address and remarked that Ahlman's must be a great gunsmith shop because he ships items there on a fairly regular basis.
I rarely go to the post office anymore.
 
old lady new shooter said:
Allows you to buy postage and print labels online. It also allows you to order USPS pickup, but USPS DOES NOT OFFER PICKUP SERVICE FOR MEDIA MAIL, as I wrote above. So you still have to mail your packages from the post office.
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The USPS will pick up packages at your door. All you have to do, is schedule the pick up online. I've been doing that for years now.
 
We receive our mail at the Post Office. One of us picks up the mail twice a week. Great to hear some of us can avoid federal property
 
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Ohio law makes it a felony to carry anywhere forbidden by federal law. Ohio is also a must notify state and your CHL is linked to your drivers license.. So picture a scenario where you get into a fender bender in the post office parking lot and the other driver calls the police. If you are unlucky enough to get an officer that is aware of the above facts, you would be in a world of hurt.

That is why I park off-property.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa...-says-u-s-appeals-court-idUSL1N0ZC2QF20150626

Reuters) - A federal appeals court said a U.S. Postal Service regulation banning firearms on postal property is constitutional, and reversed a lower court ruling that would have let people keep weapons inside their vehicles in post office parking lots.

By a 2-1 vote on Friday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled against Tab Bonidy, a licensed gun owner who said the restrictions violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Circuit Judge David Ebel said the right to carry firearms does not apply to federal buildings such as post offices, and that while it was a “closer question” he would not second-guess the Postal Service’s extending the ban to its parking lots.
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No one was arrested in that case.
 
post #63 sounds like the win thusfar IMO


OLNS, is there a retail outlet with a post office SERVICE in it? We have grocery stores for example, that have US Post office meters, boxes, flat rate envelopes, etc. behind the counter. At the service counter. Not full-service US Postal, but easily 85% +. These are staffed by mere store employees, I presume they receive some minimal US Postal training via their store. Most seem very knowledgeable.

It is illegal BTW:cool:, to go behind the counter with a concealed gun as it is the specific area considered a ''US Post office''

I don't know how you could ''search'' for that feature, but perhaps call a local retail store, contact service desk and ask if they offer US Mail service. If answer is no, are they aware of other local stores who do.

Perhaps it is time for BBG (Big Bloated Government) to realize, the same ppl would are licensed to carry are in fact ''Ok'' right outside the Postal facility, just might maybe possibly be also similarly Ok, inside same facility for a whopping 5-8 minutes. An argumente' for another dias, perhaps...
 
Interesting how many differing opinions there are on this.

Typically my trips to the post office are pretty quick and I live in a small town. My vehicle is always locked, so when I need to stop at the PO, I unholster, and place it under the rear seat in my truck. I go in, conduct my business, and reholster when I'm back in my vehicle. Pretty simple. It's all street side parking for me so there's no concern about guns on the premises.

I guess I didn't realize PO parking lots were off limits too. Other federal offices that I know of only limit guns and weapons in buildings, but there's probably others I'm unaware of where parking lots are off limits.

I guess it sort of makes sense that the PO would have those types of illogical limitations. I mean when you have a cliché like "going postal" as a commonly understood phrase, they are bound to react. Unfortunately those types of deterrents accomplish nothing. There's no "going revenue" or "going parky" now is there?
 
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bearcreek said:
Does anyone know if anyone has actually been charged with carrying on USPS property when the charge wasn't connected to another crime?
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Or, if you are there as a patron on post office business and not working as a postal employee.

Just curious, but has anyone here actually read the cites on the poster?
 
I live in an area where it's quite common for people to leave their unlocked vehicle running in the parking lot while they go into the store or post office. Many times I've seen a .22 or shotgun inside such vehicles, including, just the other day, in the post office parking lot. I'm 100% confident than only a tiny percentage of the gun owners (and probably most of the LEO's) in this area and more than likely the rest of the country, know that having a gun in the vehicle in the post office parking lot is illegal. My guess is that it's extraordinarily uncommon for someone to actually be charged with simply "having a gun in the vehicle on postal service property". Honestly I'll be a little surprised if anyone has ever been charged with that, unless it was connected to another crime of some sort.
 
Steve S. said:
You must go by the “letter” of the law!
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That's the bottom line. In my state the law requires it to be in a locked box or glove compartment. I consider a locked glove compartment the most easily breached and the first place a thief would look. To adhere to the law, I will leave my UNLOADED gun in the locked glove box for very brief PO visits until I get a more secure locked box for my truck. Most of the time, if I plan on going to PO I leave the gun at home.
 
bearcreek said:
I live in an area where it's quite common for people to leave their unlocked vehicle running in the parking lot while they go into the store or post office. Many times I've seen a .22 or shotgun inside such vehicles, including, just the other day, in the post office parking lot. I'm 100% confident than only a tiny percentage of the gun owners (and probably most of the LEO's) in this area and more than likely the rest of the country, know that having a gun in the vehicle in the post office parking lot is illegal. My guess is that it's extraordinarily uncommon for someone to actually be charged with simply "having a gun in the vehicle on postal service property". Honestly I'll be a little surprised if anyone has ever been charged with that, unless it was connected to another crime of some sort.
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Maybe so, but I wouldn't bet my pistol permit on it.
 
Ignition Override said:
old lady new shooter: when you say "free country of Arizona", do you mean just the countryside, or do the cities still have the Same gun freedoms which they had in the 1960s?

I'm confused by so many laws changing gun laws--or so it seems-- in western cities due to the vast human Exodus from Kali-fornia, to the Promised Lands.
And with so many companies also finding refuge in Texas from Kali (maybe from NY, NJ, MA etc), is this part of the reason for gun laws changing in Texas?
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I live in a small city not far from Phoenix. Phoenix is geographically large, the time to drive there from here is between 20 minutes and an hour depending which part of Phoenix we are talking about. AFAIK the laws in the cities are the same as the rest of the state (I think there is a state law preventing cities from making their own gun laws), but you don't see people open carrying in the cities, whereas according to what I hear you do see it in the countryside.

A group of 12 Dems in the state senate just proposed a horrible trio of laws that look a lot like Cali, sparking a huge influx of membership applications to the Arizona Citizens Defense League -- I am one of the new applicants and they emailed to say it may take as long as six weeks to process all the applications. But check out their website to see all the good gun laws they have helped get enacted here. One of my favorites is that public buildings like libraries have to provide safe temporary gun storage on site if they want to prohibit carry inside, also they are forbidden from maintaining any identifying information about people who use the safe storage.
 
AK103K said:
The USPS will pick up packages at your door. All you have to do, is schedule the pick up online. I've been doing that for years now.
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FOR THE THIRD TIME: USPS DOES NOT PICK UP MEDIA MAIL, UNLESS YOU ALSO HAVE AT LEAST ONE PRIORITY MAIL OR FIRST CLASS PACKAGE THE SAME DAY.

(Media mail is a special low rate for books and other media like DVDs. I am a bookseller. All my domestic packages are shipped media mail.)
 
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