Published July 31, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET · Updated July 31, 2026 at 4:51 PM ET
Justice Department retreats from Postal Service concealed-carry restrictions
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The Justice Department has backed away from restrictions on carrying concealed firearms at Postal Service facilities. The policy change reverses prior limitations on firearms at postal properties.
Patriot Watch first flagged this story 2 hr ago, when Instapundit reported it. So far this remains a single-source report. The most recent report came 2 hr ago from Instapundit. Verification tier: Watching — single-source — not yet independently corroborated.
⚖ The Constitutional Angle
Under Bruen, a Postal Service concealed-carry restriction must satisfy the historical-tradition test, with the government bearing the burden of proving consistency with the Nation's history of firearms regulation. Heller recognized that restrictions on carrying in sensitive places can remain lawful. The Justice Department's retreat reflects how demanding that historical burden is.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Kevin P. Bruen, Superintendent of New York State Police 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Thomas
New York's requirement that applicants demonstrate 'proper cause' — a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community — to obtain an unrestricted public-carry license violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public. The Court held the Second Amendment protects a right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense, and rejected the two-step means-end framework lower courts had applied after Heller.
District of Columbia v. Heller 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
Vote: 5-4 · Opinion: Scalia
The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use it for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home. The right is not unlimited: the Court noted that longstanding prohibitions (e.g., possession by felons and the mentally ill, carrying in sensitive places, conditions on commercial sale) remain presumptively lawful. D.C.'s ban on handgun possession in the home and its requirement that lawful firearms in the home be kept nonfunctional violate the Second Amendment.
Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited
