The Pam Bondi Department of Justice asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to “hold in abeyance,” or delay, proceedings in a case regarding concealed carry of firearms at federal post offices, and on January 21, the court replied with a firm, one-page order denying that request.
In October of 2025, a district court struck down the carry ban, ruling against the DOJ, and issuing an injunction against enforcement. The DOJ then asked the court to limit the pro-2A ruling and injunction to only those named in the lawsuit. On December 1, 2025, the DOJ appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit.
On January 5, 2026, the DOJ made the above-referenced request to the Fifth Circuit to delay its own appeal, claiming that two important Second Amendment cases before the Supreme Court could have relevant outcomes for the post office carry case, Firearms Policy Coalition v. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Those cases are Hemani, which involves the question of whether or not a person who is an unlawful user of marijuana may possess a firearm, and Wolford, which addresses the constitutionality of Hawaii’s presumptive ban of carrying firearms on all private property (oral arguments in Wolford were held earlier this week).
In their opposition brief to this motion, Firearms Policy Coalition pointed out that neither case was relevant:
“But if it is not sufficient reason for abeyance for the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a relevant case, it is certainly not sufficient reason for it to grant certiorari in two unrelated cases that simply involve the same constitutional amendment.”
“The Government’s position is effectively that, because the Supreme Court is hearing Second Amendment cases this term, this Court should freeze Second Amendment litigation before it,” states the brief.
Chief Judge Jennifer W. Elrod agreed, and finding no compelling reason to further delay the case, issued her denial to the DOJ.
