United States v. Lopez

Common card · No. 205254

United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), is a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court that struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (GFSZA), determining that it was not a valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. It was the first case since 1937 in which the Court held that Congress had exceeded its power under the Commerce Clause. The case arose from a San Antonio high school student's challenge to the GFSZA, which banned possession of handguns within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a school. In a majority decision joined by four other justices, Chief Justice William Rehnquist held that Lopez's possession of the gun was not economic activity and its scope was not sufficiently cabined, and so was outside the broad reach of the Commerce Clause. After the Lopez decision, the GFSZA was amended to specifically only apply to guns that had been moved via interstate or foreign commerce. Though it did not reverse any past ruling about the meaning of the...

Read on Wikipedia