SUPREME COURT NIXES SCHOOL GUN LAW

A divided Supreme Court struck down the 1990Gun-Free School ZonesAct, a federal law banning possession of guns within 1,000 feet of a school. Congress had enacted the ban on grounds that school violence interfered with national economic productivity. But five of the Justices disagreed with that logic. Chief Justice William Rehnquist called the Act "a criminal statute that by its terms has nothing to do with 'commerce' or any sort of economic enterprise, however broadly one might define those terms." More than 40 states already outlaw gun possession on or near school grounds. Those laws are not affected by today's ruling. But Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), the federal law's sponsor, said he was "astonished that the Supreme Court has said that Congress cannot protect our children from guns," and asserted that today's ruling could call other federal laws into question. Today's decision denied a Justice Department bid to reinstate a former San Antonio high school student's conviction for carrying a gun to school.