The Gun Free School Zones Act Of 1990

Idaho Senator Jim Guthrie is discussing the pros and cons of allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns at school. A school district in north-central Idaho decided that some of the teachers and administrators should be trained and carry a gun. “I think we should give districts the maximum flexibility to make those decisions”(Journal Staff & Wire Reports). The National rifle association's believe all action to help keep children's safety should be considered. “ When a threat occurs, a quick and timely response by law enforcement professionals is what everyone hopes for, but in these when time is clearly of the essence we strongly believe that trained school personnel can also serve a vital role”( Journal Staff & Wire Reports).

During the supreme court case U.S v. Lopez, the United States Federal Government’s argument was that carrying a firearm inside an educational environment would lead to a violent crime. A violent crime ultimately affects the population of a school. Due to this, the federal government believed that the commerce clause should be practiced in this case. The Supreme Court backed the previous decision offered by the Five Court of Appeals. In United States v. Lopez, the U.S Supreme Court stated that Congress actually has the ability to make laws under the Clause, but these powers were limited and could not affect the Lopez case.

However, Lopez’s trouble did not stop here. Soon after, the Federal government petitioned for the Supreme Court to review the case, and they accepted. Attorneys for the United States contended that the law was an appropriate use of power under the interstate Commerce Clause. The government was obligated to show that Section 922 was a valid exercise of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause, and that this section regulated a matter that affected interstate commerce. The government’s case was made up from one principle argument. They argued that the possession of a firearm in an educational environment would most likely lead to violent crimes, which, in turn, would affect the general economic condition in one of two ways: First, because violent crime causes damagers and creates expenses, it would raise insurance costs. These insurance costs would be spread

The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 forbade the possession of firearms in public schools

In 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School was victim of a terrible mass shooting that prompted several states and cities to pass strict gun control measures. This sparked a widely debated and controversial issue for “gun friendly” states in the South and West, who responded with bills that would strengthen Stand Your Ground laws and allow weapons in most public places. The nation continues to be divided on gun control policies, as it is very controversial and continues to be a very hot topic in society today. There has been a rise in gun violence throughout the years, and it has been widely been debated that guns are too easily accessible and there is a continued push for stricter gun laws that can reduce the risk of gun violence.

In order for the respondent, which was a local student at his school; to get his case dismissed he would have to prove that either he recently moved with interstate commerce or that he had some sort of tie to interstate commerce. In order for the court to uphold the respondents claim that 922(q) is justified because the possession of the firearm in a local school zone does indeed substantially influence interstate commerce, they would have to have the Supreme Court pile conjecture upon conjecture in an approach that would suggest reasonable to convert congressional Commerce Clause authority to a general police authority of the nature possessed only by the States.

This article also talks about the Sandy Hook shooting is where the start of this ban even caught president obama’s eye. The article also talks about how the president is using the safety of children to push this gun ban through. When adults take children to rallies to hold signs on sensitive topics, it always gives Power Play the willies. What does a 6-year-old know about abortion or gun control or the deficit that he or she wasn’t taught by his or her parents? When a 12-year-old attends an anti-war rally is he or she thinking about just-war theory and global politics or trying to impress an anti-war social studies teacher? This article will help me out because not only the gun ban will help prevent school shooting but in a way children are safe to go to school without having the fear of death.

Gun free zones do not work like they were designed to. A gun free zone is an area where guns are not allowed, it is a federal law. In 1990, the law was purposed by Joseph Biden and signed into law by the president George H. W. Bush. In 2012 a gunman attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman killed twenty children and six teachers. The school was a gun free zone and had no security with no firearms on campus. That same year in Aurora, Colorado, the Cinemark Movie Theater released “The Dark Night Raises” at midnight on July 20th. The killer had twenty-one movie theaters to choose from that were playing this movie. He chose the only one that was a gun free zone. On the July 23, 2015 Chattanooga, Tennessee, a man killed four Marines and a sailor in the Navy. The recruiting office where the men were murdered was a gun free zone. The gunmen knew it was a gun free zine and he wanted to carry out an ISIS terrorist act. Gun free zones do not always prevent crime from happening. Law-abiding citizens die from gun free zones.

The prohibition of concealed gun carrying in gun-free zones, such as in schools as specified in the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA, 1990), will greatly help in the prevention of crimes especially in the schools all over the U.S. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in its November 1, 2013 report “Guns in Schools Policy Summary,” gun violence has greatly been reduced in the gun-free schools due to the presence of federal and state laws, which have resulted in fewer students carrying guns. The same report states that, on the other hand, allowing guns on gun-free school zones would likely cause more campus homicides as well as suicides, citing that studies have revealed that between 9-11% of college students have seriously considered suicide, and about 1,100 actually commit suicide every year – statistics that become more alarming when guns are allowed in campuses considering that 85% of suicide attempts using gun are fatal.

The case of United States v. Lopez begins with Congress passing the Guns-Free School Zone Act under the Commerce Clause. Alfonso Lopez

The use of handguns to perpetrate acts of violence, especially homicides, had increased dramatically by 1988. Many suburban and metropolitan areas across the country faced these changes, as more handguns were made available to the public despite gun laws. In a 1990 edition of Parade Magazine, United States Chief Justice Warren Burger, made his stance on the controversial issue known. Though the gun control debate is still largely communicated, Burger’s talking points allowed for a fresh perspective from both a legal and Constitutional aspect. In his article, Burger establishes historical relevance to the current gun control debate by use of his standing, emotional control, and exceptional reasoning

Guns are becoming one of the top issues in the newspapers (The Monroe Evening News). There have been 394 incidents of students bringing guns to school in the United States since 1998 (Sutton). Legislators say that the law cannot prevent the tragedy of the fatal shootings in the schools

Schools were first turned into gun-free zones in 1990 by the Gun-Free School Zones Act. However, the Supreme Court ruled this act as unconstitutional, because the U.S. Congress over used its power in enacting it. (“United States v. Lopez.") Even though, this act was not terminated

Heller, the court ruled that “the Second Amendment protects a pre-existing individual right to keep and bear arms…including, ‘the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation’” (National Rifle Association, 2011 par 4). Although the Constitution gives individuals the right to bear arms, it does not exclude “prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places…or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of firearms,” (Romano & Wingert, 2011 par 13). In recent years here has been much discussion among the nation’s lawmakers and their constituents as to whether or not the Second Amendment is still constitutional; the question is whether or not the Second Amendment should be revised, to prohibit the sale of firearms to those who do not meet certain conditions and qualifications, or even removed from the constitution. According to a national survey of 1,005 high school students, conducted by Vittes, Sorrenson and Gilbert, “63.7 percent of high school students believe that regulating the sale of guns does not violate the constitution” (2003, pg 12). In the same survey, 64.6 percent responded that they would support stricter laws addressing the sale of firearms, and 82.2 percent of those surveyed, believe that the government should make and enforce laws making it more difficult for

You go to school to be educated by your teachers and peers. It brings unnecessary tensions and can cause problems. Students, teachers, and other staffs shouldn’t be able to bring guns to school. Who’s to say that person carrying around an assault weapon doesn’t have an unstable problem? We don’t know what is on someone’s mind or what they are capable of. Anyone could be having a bad day and decide to threaten someone with a gun. These kinds of circumstances should be made clear to the public and be banned from educational schools. Guns are used as protection, but they may be misapplied to be used as violence. There are more rational ways we could go about this such as; investing in more security guards or police enforcement. Needless to say, guns are dangerous especially when in the hands of a deadly person. What's more important, the second amendment or the lives of our teachers and students? Ultimately guns have no place to be in or around a school