You may recall that in 2024, we filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of attorney and combat veteran David Nastri of Connecticut, challenging federal law that prohibits the carrying of firearms on United States postal service property. We The Patriots USA joined Mr. Nastri as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, since defending your right to keep and bear arms is squarely within the mission of our organization.
The district court dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year, and we appealed to the Second Circuit, where the case is now pending. On July 13, 2026, we filed our brief explaining why we believe the district court erred in dismissing our case. You can read the full text of the brief here, but here is an excerpt from the introduction:
Our Founders understood sensitive places. They restricted firearms in deliberating legislatures, before courts in session, and at polling places on Election Day. In each instance, the same logic applied: the deliberative acts of self-government cannot reliably occur when those conducting them face armed intimidation. The Founders restricted firearms where that threat was real and where the integrity of deliberative self-government depended on freedom from it.
They did not restrict firearms in post offices. Not because post offices were rare — they were operated by the Continental Congress before the Constitution was ratified. Not because the Founders were unaware that post offices were government facilities — they built them. But because a post office is not a deliberative proceeding, a postmaster processing mail is not a judge adjudicating cases, and the right to send a letter does not depend on freedom from armed coercion the way the right to vote does on Election Day. The Founders drew that line. This case is about whether the district court was right to erase it.
Although carrying firearms in post offices may seem like a trivial concern, winning back that freedom is actually tremendously important. When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen in 2022, it made clear that the government is not permitted to restrict Second Amendment rights unless it can demonstrate that such a restriction is consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation in this country. By leaving laws on the books that prohibit the carrying of firearms in various locations – including post offices and other federal buildings – we are conceding that these restrictions are permissible, and are consistent with the history and tradition of firearms regulation in the United States. In so doing, we cede our rights even in instances when the Founders never intended for us to do so. And by leaving these laws on the books unchallenged, we tacitly consent to further restrictions, which in the future the government will be able to say fit within its scheme of firearm regulation that includes restrictions in federal buildings like post offices.
And that’s a real danger, unlike the feigned danger of a law-abiding combat veteran carrying his pistol when he goes into his local post office to pick up his mail. When we consent to small restrictions, we unwittingly consent to larger ones as well.
Please help us continue fighting for your right to keep and bear arms by making a gift to our organization today. Gifts made to our nonprofit are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. tax law.