Interstate Commerce Clause Case Study

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The textual intent of “commerce” in the clause has been debated and defined over several cases to better understand the limits and regulations the Federal Government can enact using the Commerce Clause. In United States v. Lopez, the Court convicted a high school student for carrying a concealed handgun into his school that was in violation of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (pg.617). The Gun-Free School Zones Act made it a federal offense for any individual to knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that an individual knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a school zone. The Interstate Commerce Clause was applied to the ruling. The Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision on the grounds that the law was outside the