Florida – -(AmmoLand.com)- Now that 25 states have passed constitutional carry laws, there are millions of law-abiding Americans who have chosen to exercise their Second Amendment rights by carrying a defensive firearm, either openly or concealed, without permission slip from the government.
Unfortunately, federal law has not kept up with the national constitutional-carry movement, especially the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. (GFSZA ) The Act prohibits possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school – of school property. Motorists who drive by a school likely fall well within this 1,000-foot gun-free zone.
The GFSZA does not recognize constitutional carry or any other form of permitless carry. There is one exception: gun owners who possess a valid concealed-carry permit or license issued by their state are exempt from the law. To be clear, constitutional carriers are not.
To comply with the GFSZA, permitless carriers are supposed to stop before they enter the gun-free zone, unload their firearm, and secure it in a locked container or rack within their vehicle. If they do not comply and are caught, the GFSZA is punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to five years in federal prison.
In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the GFSZA was unconstitutional because Congress had “exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause.”
President Bill Clinton turned to his Attorney General, Janet Reno, for a fix. Reno produced an amendment that required the government to prove that the firearm has ‘‘moved in or the possession of such firearm otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.’’
Click the link to read the whole article: Gun Free School Zone Trap
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