The Justice Department has formally abandoned its defense of the federal prohibition on carrying firearms at U.S. Postal Service facilities, filing a terse 41-word unopposed motion in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 16 to voluntarily dismiss the government's appeal in Firearms Policy Coalition v. Blanche. The retreat leaves intact a nationwide injunction blocking enforcement of the ban that covers all current and future members of both the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation.

The underlying lawsuit was filed in June 2024 by FPC and SAF in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, challenging 18 U.S.C. § 930 and its implementing regulations as applied to ordinary USPS facilities — the kind of post offices American gun owners visit routinely. Chief Judge Reed O'Connor issued a nationwide permanent injunction on September 30, 2025, finding the prohibition unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The Biden-era DOJ had appealed O'Connor's ruling to the Fifth Circuit. The Trump DOJ filed its motion to dismiss that appeal without explanation, effectively waiving the white flag.

AmmoLand was among the first to report the DOJ's capitulation, noting the 41-word motion made no argument on the merits and offered no justification for the reversal. NRA-ILA covered the development in a July 27 article, highlighting that the O'Connor injunction is notably broad — it protects all FPC and SAF members regardless of when they joined, not just the named plaintiffs. That scope makes the practical effect of the ruling significant: any FPC or SAF member carrying pursuant to their state's laws is now shielded from federal prosecution for lawfully carrying on postal grounds, provided they fall within the injunction's coverage.

The case should not be confused with a separate federal lawsuit filed by the NRA and Gun Owners of America in a different district targeting the same postal carry prohibition. That litigation is ongoing. The FPC/SAF victory in FPC v. Blanche is a standalone resolution, and with the DOJ no longer pursuing the Fifth Circuit appeal, the O'Connor injunction stands unchallenged for the foreseeable future.

The constitutional basis for the ruling was the Second Amendment's text, history, and tradition standard set out by the Supreme Court in Bruen. O'Connor found no historical analogues from the founding era sufficient to justify a blanket prohibition on carrying at a postal facility, which functions as an ordinary commercial destination rather than a sensitive place like a courthouse or school. The absence of any effort by the Trump DOJ to defend the ban signals alignment with the administration's broader position that several Biden-era firearms regulations lack constitutional grounding.

For lawful gun owners who carry, the practical upshot is clear: a federal court has said the government cannot ban you from carrying at the post office, the government no longer contests that conclusion, and a nationwide injunction is in place protecting FPC and SAF members. Attorneys advising carriers in affected jurisdictions are recommending members confirm active membership status before relying on the injunction's protection.