Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990

Crime Control Act of 1990

Other short titles	Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enhancement Act of 1990 Comprehensive Thrift and Bank Fraud Prosecution and Taxpayer Recovery Act of 1990 Criminal Victims Protection Act of 1990 Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 Financial Institutions Anti-Fraud Enforcement Act of 1990 Mandatory Detention for Offenders Convicted of Serious Crimes Act National Child Search Assistance Act of 1990 National Law Enforcement Cooperation Act of 1990 Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990
Long title	An Act to control crime.
Acronyms (colloquial)	GFSZA, CCA
Nicknames	Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990
Enacted by	the 101st United States Congress
Effective	November 29, 1990
Citations
Public law	101-647
Statutes at Large	104 Stat. 4789 aka 104 Stat. 4844
Codification
Titles amended	18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure
U.S.C. sections amended	18 U.S.C. ch. 44 § 921 et seq. 18 U.S.C. ch. 44 § 922 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the United States Senate as S.3266 by Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) on October 27, 1990 Passed the United States Senate on October 27, 1990 (passed voice vote) Passed the United States House of Representatives on October 27, 1990 (313-1, Roll call vote 534, via Clerk.House.gov) Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on November 29, 1990

The Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) is an act of the U.S. Congress signed into law by President George H.W. Bush that prohibits any unauthorized individual from knowingly possessing a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(25).

It was introduced in the U.S. Senate in October 1990 by Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was originally passed as section 1702 of the Crime Control Act of 1990. It added 18 U.S.C. § 922(q); 18 U.S.C. § 922 itself was added by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.

The Supreme Court of the United States subsequently held that the Act was an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995). This was the first time in over half a century that the Supreme Court limited Congressional authority to legislate under the Commerce Clause.

Following the Lopez decision, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno proposed changes to 18 U.S.C. § 922(q) that were adopted in section 657 of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, Pub.L. 104–208, 110 Stat. 3009, enacted September 30, 1996. These changes required that the firearm in question "has moved in or otherwise affects interstate commerce." As nearly all firearms have moved in interstate commerce at some point in their existence, critics assert this was merely a legislative tactic to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling.

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Wikipedia