True or false: The United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Lopez that the Gun Free School Zones Act constituted an overreach of legislative authority under the Commerce Clause?

Nice work! You are correct.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the act, which claimed to draw authority from the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce, overstepped the boundaries of that power and was unconstitutional.

Case background

United States v. Lopez was a case decided on Apr 26, 1995, by the United States Supreme Court. It involved a high school student's conviction for bringing a concealed weapon to his school and the constitutionality of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.

In brief: On March 10, 1992, 12th-grade student Alfonso Lopez brought a concealed .38-caliber handgun and five bullets to his high school, where he was arrested based on an anonymous tip. A federal district court sentenced him to six months in prison followed by two years' parole for violating the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Lopez appealed his conviction, which was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The Supreme Court then granted certiorari review and ruled 5-4 to affirm the Court of Appeals' ruling that the act was unconstitutional.

Why it matters: The decision marked the first time the Supreme Court had restricted the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce in several decades.

See also

• Independent federal agency
• Nondelegation doctrine
• Separation of powers
• Rulemaking
• Administrative law
• Supreme Court of the United States
• History of the Supreme Court