Gun Rights 101: The 'Gun Free School Zones Act'

October 3, 1:57 PMCharlotte Gun Rights ExaminerPaul Valone

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First enacted in 1990, the federal “Gun Free School Zones Act” prohibited most guns within “school zones” defined as within 1,000 feet of an elementary or secondary public or private school. Congress justified the ability of the federal government to regulate guns in schools under its enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce stipulated in Article 1, Section 8. Clause 3 of the United States Constitution.

In 1992, Alfonso Lopez, Jr., a 12th grader at Edison High School in San Antonio, Texas, was arrested for having a revolver and charged under the act. Ultimately, in United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down the law in 1995 as an excessive extension of the Commerce Clause.

In September of 1996, Congress responded by reenacting a modified version of the law which attempted to circumvent the SCOTUS objections by applying it only to possession or discharge of a firearm “that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.”

As demonstrated in a Duke Law Journal article by Seth J. Safra, however, significant doubts remain as to the constitutionality of the reenacted law, which has not been reviewed by SCOTUS.

RELEVANT RESTRICTIONS OF 1996 LAW

It is unlawful to knowingly possess or discharge a firearm that has moved in or otherwise affected interstate or foreign commerce within 1,000 feet of a primary or secondary school.

The law does not apply only if the firearm is:

• On private property not part of the school grounds; or
• Unloaded and locked into a firearm rack or container; or
• Used in a program approved by a school.

The law applies to all persons except if:

• The individual is licensed by the state in which the school is located (e.g. a concealed handgun permit); or
• The individual is a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity; or
• The individual is traversing the school premises with an unloaded firearm for the purpose of hunting and has permission from the school.