GUN Free Schools Zones act

D

Duxman

New member
Aparently there is a federal law that prohibits possesion of a gun within 1000 feet of a school zone. With some exceptions...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun-Free_School_Zones_Act

Question to all those legal eagles out there:

I live within a mile of this middle school, and quite often I walk my dog in the outskirts, sidewalks outside the school.

Is it legal to carry a handgun concealed while outside the school walking your dog?

Thanks in advance....
 
By christ! It's as though whoever conceived of the plan to ban guns within 1000 feet of schools, and took it all the way through passage of the legislation, never once took a glimpse at a map of what that would do, or made the realization of just how many schools dot the landscape! WTF!! How can anyone have let this become law, unless they were actually intending to make a minefield that gun owners could not legally negotiate?! :mad:



-azurefly
 
I haven't read the Act itself, but the Wiki article you linked to says that there's an exception for people who are licensed by the State in which the school is located.

So IF THE ARTICLE IS TRUE AND ACCURATE (this is a big "if"), if you have a CCW, you should be ok, provided you don't violate the CCW by actually carrying on school grounds.


Does anyone know the Bluebook citation for this Act?
 
Even if that exemption is true, what about a person who has NO CCW license, but who otherwise (except for passing through -- or even LIVING IN -- one of the red circles) would be perfectly legal to take his guns out of the house, put them into the car, and drive to the shooting range?

But he has no CCW for those long guns. How does he legally even have them in his house? How does he legally transport them to the shooting range?


-azurefly
 
Ok. I just read the Act, and it checks out. (Man, that's well-written. It appears to the voting public like it's a HUGE ban on firearm carrying, but it's really pretty ineffective.) If you're licensed to carry, the 1000 foot restriction does not apply to you; just the prohibition of carrying loaded on the school campus.

It's still illegal to discharge a firearm within 1000 feet of a school, though. I didn't immediately see a self-defense exception. It may still be there, though.
 
Yeah. There's a "private property" exception, too. If you're on your own property, the law doesn't apply.

Really. It's a brilliant piece of political legislation. It doesn't really change the law at ALL. The only thing it does is make it a federal crime to commit an already-existing weapons violation!

Brilliant! :barf:
 
Oh, one more thing...

There's also a "transportation of firearms" exception. If it's unloaded, locked in a case, and in your car, you're cool.

Brilliant! :barf:
 
But still, what about once a non-CCW person leaves his own property with a gun and travels to the range, passing through these school zones?

I presume he is not under the CCW exemption OR the private-property exemption. I presume he's ripe for getting arrested and treated as though he were plotting a school shooting or something. :rolleyes:

[edit: OH! You slipped the transportation exemption in while I was typing this.

So, it appears true that the law then just re-criminalizes what was already illegal. Yay. :rolleyes:

-azurefly
 
Yeah. Federal crimes typically carry higher sentences than State crimes. All this does is up the sentencing on a weapons violation committed near a school.

No big deal... It LOOKS really scary, though, doesn't it?
 
Yep, it's the corollary to "When (substitute where) guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns".

Any sociopath that doesn't mind breaking the law by killing people certainly won't worry about it being against the law to carry guns in "gun free school zones".

It seems a large segment of our population will never learn and common sense isn't as common as the name suggests.

:confused: :rolleyes:
 
The CCW exemption isn't as broad as it looks - it requires that your state law be written in such a way that you must be subject to a credential check by law enforcement officials before being issued the license. You're screwed if you're in Vermont, for example, and in some states non-LEOs can issue the licenses under state law.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top