Did I commit a crime this morning? (WI)

[Yupp]

This morning, on my way to work Hypothetically if I needed to drop a couple of items in the mail and I pull up to the mailbox in my vehicle.

What if the drive up mail box was is in the parking lot (AKA the property) of a city hall/police department building?

If I happened to be carrying concealed at the time while driving through the parking lot - would I be violating the law given that I remain in my car.

The chance of getting caught would be nill....so this is more of an academic, hypothetical, question but I'm wondering how others interpret the law.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Verum7]

Double check the form you received when you got your CCW Permit to be on the safe side. I am pretty sure you would have had to have been in the building carrying. Not sure about the whole property issue.

[Hiram25]

Most Federal buildings include the parking lot, so from the way I look at it you would be legally wrong. JMHO!

[Romanr4]

In WI they do not consider parking lots restrict able as long is in your POV. If you get out of your POV you are restricted.

[Bigpoppa48]

Normally if I have to go inside the Post Office I park in the church parking lot accross the street and leave my handgun in my vehicle. All it takes is an officer to notice a bump on your hip and their goes your CHL license and also a court date and lawyer retainer and the likes. I try not to take the chances that I use to take when I was young & dumb.

[marcclarke]

Double check the form you received when you got your CCW Permit to be on the safe side. I am pretty sure you would have had to have been in the building carrying. Not sure about the whole property issue.

For the US Post Office it is the whole property, including the parking lot and the drive-by drop-off outdoor mail boxes. The OP would have done a hypothetical a boo-boo by driving through the parking lot to drop off mail in the outdoor box while his hypothetical hardware was hypothetically in his hypothetical car. Hypothetically, that is.

[marcclarke]

In WI they do not consider parking lots restrict able as long is in your POV. If you get out of your POV you are restricted.

The USPS is regulated by Federal statues, not by WI statutes. It doesn't matter what WI thinks. (We law-abiding folk always have to keep track of whose jurisdiction we are in and whose statutes apply.)

[marcclarke]

Normally if I have to go inside the Post Office I park in the church parking lot accross the street and leave my handgun in my vehicle. All it takes is an officer to notice a bump on your hip and their goes your CHL license and also a court date and lawyer retainer and the likes. I try not to take the chances that I use to take when I was young & dumb.

This is proper procedure. I leave my "hardware" locked securely in my car at the friendly coffee shop next door to my Post Office when I have to personally visit the Post Office or drop off some time-critical mail.

[SIGguy229]

This morning, on my way to work Hypothetically if I needed to drop a couple of items in the mail and I pull up to the mailbox in my vehicle.

What if the drive up mail box was is in the parking lot (AKA the property) of a city hall/police department building?

If I happened to be carrying concealed at the time while driving through the parking lot - would I be violating the law given that I remain in my car.

The chance of getting caught would be nill....so this is more of an academic, hypothetical, question but I'm wondering how others interpret the law.

What does the law of WI say about carrying on CITY property?

I think you are getting confused with the FEDERAL law prohibiting carrying in a post office or on post office property, A drive-up mailbox by city hall does not equal federal property. You would have to defer to state law or local ordinance on legal carry of a firearm.

Barring any state law or city ordinance (go look those up), I don't think you did anything wrong...

Most Federal buildings include the parking lot, so from the way I look at it you would be legally wrong. JMHO!

He wasn't talking about a drive-up mailbox on USPS property, but a mailbox on city property...

The USPS is regulated by Federal statues, not by WI statutes. It doesn't matter what WI thinks. (We law-abiding folk always have to keep track of whose jurisdiction we are in and whose statutes apply.)

Read the original question...he was NOT on USPS property....he was on city property...so State Law and local ordinance prevails.

[Bark'n]

Be sure to check your states particulars, but in my state, dropping off mail into a USPS mailbox does not violate the law as long as you are not driving on to the parking lot of the post office. For example, if there is a mailbox in the parking lot of your local city hall, just driving up to it and dropping mail in the slot is not a violation of the law. However, it may be a violation to go inside your local city hall while carrying a gun.

In my small town, the mailboxes for the USPS is in the alley which runs behind the post office property. The alley is not USPS property therefore just driving up to the mailbox and slipping in a letter is not in violation of the law.

If I park in front of the post office using the "head-in" parking spaces located on main street, I am safe to leave my gun in my car if I need to go inside the post office. Those parking spaces are not part of USPS property and are part of the city. Those spaces are for any of the businesses along main street. If however I use the parking lot which belongs to the USPS, I am technically not supposed to have a firearm on their property and therefore would be a violation of Federal law.

[marcclarke]

What does the law of WI say about carrying on CITY property?

I think you are getting confused with the FEDERAL law prohibiting carrying in a post office or on post office property, A drive-up mailbox by city hall does not equal federal property. You would have to defer to state law or local ordinance on legal carry of a firearm.

Barring any state law or city ordinance (go look those up), I don't think you did anything wrong...



He wasn't talking about a drive-up mailbox on USPS property, but a mailbox on city property...


Read the original question...he was NOT on USPS property....he was on city property...so State Law and local ordinance prevails.

Right you are. My bad. Need more coffee.

[sgb]

Most Federal buildings include the parking lot, so from the way I look at it you would be legally wrong. JMHO!

I am in agreement 110%

[archer51]

As others have said, check state law on carrying on state/city property. For federal property, you are in violation of the law, unless the federal office shares the parking lot with other businesses, as in they are located in a shopping center.

[rstickle]

For the US Post Office it is the whole property, including the parking lot and the drive-by drop-off outdoor mail boxes. The OP would have done a hypothetical a boo-boo by driving through the parking lot to drop off mail in the outdoor box while his hypothetical hardware was hypothetically in his hypothetical car. Hypothetically, that is.

Double check me on this, but as I recall if the Post Office SHARES the parking lot, like in a strip mall, you can "carry" in the parking lot. I realize that OP is asking a slightly different question, but just tossing this out there given some of the answers.

[kelcarry]

I have not read all the replies but some of them have said what I will say. CHECK YOUR STATE CODE OF LAWS AND CHECK THE FEDERAL CODE OF LAWS AND DO NOT JUST TAKE THE WORD OF ANYONE ON THIS FORUM. Replies are well-meaning in content and intent but none of us (at least to my knowledge) are practicing attorneys familiar with the morass of law involving firearms. As a footnote though and I ask this in a hypothetical and sarcastic way----do you really think the firearm police stationed at the post office are going to come over to you, search your car and put you away for the rest of your life? Just live your life and not worry about posting your letters. Peace and G-d Bless.