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

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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...
There is a mail store I went to a few times before I got on Pirate Ship (a service where you can buy postage, including getting tracking numbers and optional insurance, and print labels online) when I was too late for the post office and needed a receipt for that day (Amazon requires me to ship by the next business day). There is no issue with carrying there, but they mark up the prices pretty good. Plus it is a further drive than the post office.

BTW there is a difference between a mail store vs a USPS post office counter embedded in a grocery store or other non-government location. We had a thread in Legal about this one or two years ago.
 
Federal law does prohibit a gun in a Post Office parking lot unless the facility has a shared lot with other businesses. The Postal Service was sued over this issue. In 2015 the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the citizen suing. The US Supreme Court subsequently refused to hear an appeal. Consequently, the law stands. Govern yourself accordingly.
Why I said what I did above..............:thumbup:;)
 
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.
HUH ?.

Where is the ARRESTS in parking lot for possession on 'federal property'.

My point was that it has not happened in the recent history [ say past 25 years ].
 
Don't go to the post office anymore, there's a station at the local grocery store where I can do anything I need to do with USPS.

When I had a PO box I did the park off the lot and leave the gun locked up thing.
 
I used to go in under the "D; other legal purposes" exemption clause (the legal purpose being "for self defense"), but quit that when I figured out how expensive it would be to defend myself even if I was in the right.

That's when I developed Terry's Legal Theory of "Don't try to finesse the system --if they don't like what you're doing they'll screw you in Court anyhow while you're sitting there in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and you might have to go to the bathroom.."

That Theory is applicable to many situations besides the firearms in areas under USPS control question.

Terry, 230RN
 
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I go to a Post Office (Approved Postal Provider) that is in a large convenient store just outside my neighborhood. I have seen a person open carry inside.

When I can't carry, I lock my gun in a handgun safe.

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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.)
They come to my house every day. If it wont fit in the box, then they come up to the house, doesnt matter what it is. Maybe rural mail is different than city mail?
 
I just returned from the post office. I'd hate to think my enemies might see my vehicle in the parking lot and gloat, "We've finally caught him out naked. Neither would I want a law enforcement officer to think "rough vehicle, rougher dress, shake this old boy down, and what we have here is an illegal gun somewhere secreted about his person or vehicle."

A dilemma.

Now here's the question in my mind: we know carrying a gun in the Post Office is a Federal offense, but is there a corresponding state law inviting city police, state police, and county deputies to make arrests of opportunity on the matter?

And how about Federal officers? Is an FBI or ATF agent likely to tell his boss when he hears his next day's assignment, "Can't be did. I'm in court. Caught a redneck with a gun in the post office.

I assume postal inspectors of some ilk would be charged with enforcing this law, but how many of them are there, and how active are they?

My guess is that the human element is likely to play hugely in the enforcement of this kind of law. New Jersey, New York, Eastern Virginia, places like that . . . if an officer of any stripe troubles himself to make the arrest the courts will likely cover him.

In the deep South or the West, a judge may be less sympathetic to an officer making an arrest he can't back up with statue he and the court lack the authority to cover.

For anybody who doesn't already know, this is pure guess, and sometimes I think my middle name is wrong. It'd be nice to have someone with actual experience with the subject chime in. Still, enforcement of the law probably never completely divorces itself from the human element.
 
They come to my house every day. If it wont fit in the box, then they come up to the house, doesnt matter what it is. Maybe rural mail is different than city mail?
They don't come to my house at all unless they have a package to deliver, everything here is a "development" with "cluster mailboxes", i.e. every other block or so a group of boxes on a pole, you have a key to open your box. Anything they can fit in the box goes in the box.

You can go online and order a pickup for priority mail or first-class packages. You have to choose what type of mail it is. Media mail is not in the list.
 
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.

Is this scenario based on the presumption that a LEO , at the scene of an ordinary fender bender , is going to ask the involved drivers if they are armed? Wouldn't that be odd , assuming there are no probable cause type situations involved in the scene? Or - does Ohio state law mandate that a person engaged in cc disclose to a LEO that he/she is armed in the course of field contact with law enforcement?
 
Where I am, the police call in your plate number before they even speak to you.
In my case, it would show that I have a concealed carry permit.
Of course the policeman would ask if I'm carrying!
Really? Are your motor vehicle license plates linked to your concealed carry permits in Texas?
How does that work if your spouse is the one with the concealed carry permit, yet your motor vehicle is registered in both of your names?
Just curious. It's been a long time since I was pulled over, before I had a concealed carry permit I think. But my wife had one, the truck was registered in both of our names, and I wasn't asked if I was carrying.
 
The plate number is linked to my driver's license number. So is my license to carry a handgun.
It would come up with a single query, along with my address, insurance info, other vehicles, other permitted drivers, and anything else that relates to policing the public.
I'm not thrilled about this, but that's the way it goes.
 
HUH ?.

Where is the ARRESTS in parking lot for possession on 'federal property'.

My point was that it has not happened in the recent history [ say past 25 years ].

I haven't been able to find any reference to anybody being arrested but I haven't been looking that hard either.

Even so, why would you risk it when it's so easily avoided?
 
What's a post office?

(Just kidding -- I have a lot of millenials working for me, must be rubbing off.) In all seriousness, we must have a lot of older members posting who still use actual post offices ...

In any case, I've never heard of, witnessed or responded to a report of someone illegally carrying a concealed firearm on U.S. Postal Service property or inside a post office. Not saying it doesn't happen ...
 
Why does it matter what you do with it? I've never seen a security guard frisk people as they were entering a Post Office.
 
It isn’t just the Post Offices. As a veteran I visit medical facilities both up north and in Florida. The properties are well posted with warnings as well as the building entrances. These areas can be quite large and it just isn’t possible to park off campus. I just go unarmed on those days.
 
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.

I knew they were illegal to carry into a post office but was unaware that they were illegal in the USPS parking lot.
 
Yes you are allowed to drop packages in the blue mailboxes as long as you already paid for the postage (i.e. bought postage through Amazon, PayPal, Stamps.com, etc.). Sometimes it is more convenient to do that. It's only stamped packages over a certain weight (14 ounces, maybe) that you cannot just drop into the bin.

Google search for Postal Drop Box Restriction.
Answered on Amazon Seller Central.
 
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