We reported recently how the proposed new “Revised Mailing Standards for Firearms” rule, which would permit the mailing of handguns through the U.S. Postal Service, is being opposed by the head law enforcement officials in 23 anti-gun states, including New Jersey.
Earlier this month, attorneys general from 22 states sent a letter to the USPS asking leaders to withdraw the Final Rule, arguing: “The federal government’s refusal to follow a century-old commonsense firearm safety law threatens the rule of law and public safety. Turning the Postal Service into a tool to ship guns into our states, in violation of our laws, will make it more difficult to keep guns out of the hands of felons and other dangerous people. And it will make it harder for law enforcement to solve gun crimes.”
Now, however, pro-gun-rights groups are beginning to weigh in on the idea—including some who have filed comments with the USPS in support of the proposed rule. Recently, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) filed comments on the rule on behalf of the organizations and their members nationwide.
At issue is the current law and USPS policy that allows individuals to ship long guns via USPS, but unconstitutionally prohibits individuals from shipping handguns. FPC says that while the proposed rule needs to go further, it represents one step in the right direction of respecting Americans’ natural and fundamental rights to acquire and transport arms by subjecting handguns only to the requirements applicable to long guns.
“Mailing a firearm is an important part of exercising the right to keep and bear arms,” Brandon Combs, FPC president, said in a news release announcing the comments. “The Postal Service is finally admitting what should’ve been obvious: ordinary Americans must be able to mail handguns just like long guns. That’s a step in the right direction—but the government still can’t slap extra fees, red tape and special restrictions on mailing constitutionally protected arms.”
In the comments, the FPC and FPCAC argued that the law barring handguns from being shipped via USPS are an unconstitutional infringement.
“The Proposed Rule addresses the mailability of firearms—conduct unquestionably protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the comments stated. “Mailing firearms implicates an individual’s right to transport, acquire and maintain firearms, each of which is implicitly covered by the constitutional text. Since no analogous historical tradition supports modern-day regulations on the ability of ordinary citizens to mail firearms, the Second Amendment protects their right to do so free from government infringement.”
Ultimately, the groups argued that the revisions included in the Proposed Rule are necessary to avoid many of the constitutional violations in the existing rule.
“But the Proposed Rule still suffers from constitutional flaws by impermissibly burdening several rights protected by the Second Amendment,” the comments concluded. “Further changes are necessary to correct these ongoing violations and avoid illegally burdening ordinary citizens’ Second Amendment rights.”
