A new bill in Congress would stop the U.S. Postal Service from allowing the mailing of handguns by anyone other than a federally licensed firearm dealer.
That practice had already been illegal for nearly a century. But the U.S. Department of Justice found the old law to be unconstitutional in an opinion released earlier this year.
U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D, MI-11) sponsors the bill to bring back the ban. She said the law isn’t something the executive branch can just get rid of.
“No court has invalidated it, and Congress hasn't repealed it. And so, this legislation simply says the Post Office cannot administratively override a federal law on its own,” Stevens said.
The Justice Department argued the ban on mailing handguns infringes on Americans’ Second Amendment rights. That’s, in part, because other major companies like FedEx and UPS don’t allow handguns to be shipped to everyday people through their services, leaving few other options.
“Section 1715 substantially burdens the right to bear arms protected by the Second Amendment. An individual cannot mail himself a handgun for core constitutionally protected activity, such as self-defense, target shooting, or hunting,” Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser wrote in the federal opinion.
Its release comes as gun rights groups, including the Gun Owners of America, were suing to invalidate the law.
Gun Owners of America spokesperson Luis Valdes said the opinion is a “step in the right direction.” But he wants to see the law entirely overturned in the courts.
Valdes said the Postal Service is supposed to handle all mail.
“This is a constitutional right. The Post Office doesn't deny me mailing a letter to a lawmaker. It doesn't deny me mailing a box of chocolates to my wife. It doesn't deny me mailing anything else. But it denied me mailing a simple inanimate object like a firearm,” Valdes said.
In response to the Justice Department’s finding, the Postal Service has been taking steps to begin allowing Americans to mail handguns.
Stevens’ bill would block that, or any similar rule changes from taking place, as well as prevent the unsupervised mailing of handguns.
“I don't want to be in line at a post office, watching anybody put a gun down on the counter and asking it to be mailed to somebody who has not gone through a background check, not passed any of the background check procedures,” she said.
Stevens said the bill has the backing of anti-gun violence groups like Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Giffords, and Everytown for Gun Safety. Some of her Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives have also joined her in the effort, including Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-4), and Jill Tokuda (HI-2).
Still, it’s likely to face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Congress. Despite that, Stevens said it would only take a few Republicans to cross the aisle to force a vote on the matter.
She said that’s happened before with efforts to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and votes on extending health care subsidies.
“I actually think we've a pretty good, you know, batting average here, it's actually quite unprecedented. And I'm seizing hold of the moment,” Stevens said.
Despite priorities getting to the floor for a vote with the help of some Republicans, measures have still struggled to pass.
