Federal Court Strikes Down Gun-Free School Zones Law

By Mark Walsh

Congress overstepped its powers under the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause when it enacted a 1990 law that established "gun-free school zones,'' a federal appeals court has ruled.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last month invalidated the law known as the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which makes it a federal crime for an adult to possess firearms within 1,000 feet of any public or private school.

The Sept. 15 decision by U.S. Circuit Judge Will Garwood said, "Both the management of education, and the general control of simple firearms possession by ordinary citizens have traditionally...