A federal judge in Florida ruled a U.S. law that prohibits people from having firearms in post offices to be unconstitutional, the latest court decision declaring gun restrictions violate the Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee, cited the 2022 Supreme Court ruling “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen” that expanded gun rights. The 2022 ruling recognized the individual’s right to bear a handgun in public for self-defense.
The judge shared her decision in the indictment that charged Emmanuel Ayala, U.S. Postal Service truck driver, with illegal possession of a firearm in a federal building.
I obviously can’t be in physical control of everything I own, but extra precautions have to be taken with handguns. If someone steals my Xbox or camera gear, it sucks. If someone steals my gun it’s way more serious.
For my pistol I take extra precautions beyond keeping them in a box at the office that I don’t control. I have a hidden safe in the floor of my car bolted down such that removing it would first require the removal of the gas tank. I also have a safe at the house for my long guns that’s both hidden and concreted in so that a jackhammer would be required to remove it.
The combination to the safes are in my head and written in a sealed envelope in a safety deposit box in case I die.
Whether it’s hidden in a holster, in my car, or at my house my firearms are more secure than keeping them at an office where I have no control over who has access to them.
It’s interesting that your only concern is a bad guy taking your gun. Whereas, from our perspective, you are the one who could crack at any time and go on a rampage. If you have a gun for work, you should not have that gun outside of work. You are not responsible for stolen property or damage at work outside of your work hours, unless you willfully leave a weapon unlocked.
I’m worried about thieves and children getting ahold of my firearms, yes. As far as me goong bonkers and killing? Let’s look at the science:
Statistically-speaking, concealed-carry holders are the least-likely people to engage in crime. A study on the crime rate of concealed-carry holders versus the general public a while back (citation below) showed that the major crime with the highest ratio of conviction for CHL holders versus the general public was “Deadly Conduct.” Which sounds bad until you realize that the general public still got convicted at 20 times the rate of the CHL holders. For sex crimes, intentional killing, and weapons crimes it’s 40 times the rate. Assault is 100 times the rate.
All that to say that, assuming you aren’t a licensed carrier, you’re more likely to murder someone with a gun than me by an order of magnitude.
The numbers are a little outdated now - but with Texas passing the idiotic “constitutional carry” bullshit that lets anyone carry a gun without a license, it’s hard to compare now since so few people bother to train and get licensed.
If you’re surprised I think constitutional carry is idiotic, it’s probably because you think I’m a conservative, when I’m actually a card-carrying liberal democrat. I just live in a world where I actually understand the topic of firearms much more holistically and find the politicization on both sides to be poison to actual, meaningful reforms.
Source:
Phillips, Charles & Nwaiwu, Obioma & McMaughan, Darcy Jones & Edwards, Rachel & Lin, Sherry. (2012). When Concealed Handgun Licensees Break Bad: Criminal Convictions of Concealed Handgun Licensees in Texas, 2001-2009. American journal of public health. 103. 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300807.