While this is the way the GFSZA has been interpreted by the ATF, it has not been tested in court. Even the law itself was a reaction to US vs. Lopez in which SCOTUS found the original GFSZA of 1990 did not have required nexus to interstate commerce for it to be Constitutional...and this was pre-Heller.thatguyoverthere wrote:ONLY in the state in which your license was issued. If you are in another state, even a state that has reciprocity, the 1,000 feet school zone keep out area applies.And CHL's can carry on public property in school zones, at least handguns..
I don't want to hijack your thread, but hear this out, and I'll shut up (for now).
We need to get this Federal law fixed. As it stands right now, I am breaking Federal law if I, as a CHL holder, carry my loaded handgun within 1,000 feet of school property (that's 1,000 feet from the school property line, not the school building itself) in any state other than Texas. One thousand feet is a long way!
I know many people downplay this law, saying that it's an "add-on" for gangbangers and such; that the Feds aren't going to hassle a clean-cut, upstanding, law-abiding citizen. And that may be true. But if I get pulled over in a school zone in Oklahoma while I am carrying, believe me, I will be sweating, because I AM breaking FEDERAL LAW!!! Do I really want to trust the next 5 to 15 years of my life to the mood that the local LEO happens to be in at that time? If we can get this law fixed, we don't have to worry about that situation at all.
Contact your US Senator and Representative about this problem with the Gun Free School Zone Act.
Now back to your regularly scheduled topic...
So far, some Circuit Courts have upheld the updated (1996) GFSZA, but not in the particular case of a person carrying with a reciprocally recognized license in another state. We should still should try to get it addressed at the federal level, but it really should be found unconstitutional. The Federal government is not supposed to have the broad police powers that the States have in these types of matters.
