    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [May 10, 1995]
    [Pages 678-679]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation To Amend the
    Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990
    May 10, 1995

    To the Congress of the United States:
        Today I am transmitting for your immediate consideration and passage
    the ``Gun-Free School Zones Amendments Act of 1995.'' This Act will
    provide the jurisdictional element for the Gun-Free School Zones Act of
    1990 required by the Supreme Court's recent decision in United States v.
    Lopez.
        In a 5-4 decision, the Court in Lopez held that the Congress had
    exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause by enacting the Gun-
    Free School Zones Act of 1990, codified at 18 U.S.C. 922(q). The Court
    found that this Act did not contain the jurisdictional element that
    would ensure that the firearms possession in question has the requisite
    nexus with interstate commerce.
        In the wake of that decision, I directed Attorney General Reno to
    present to me an analysis of Lopez and to recommend a legislative
    solution to the problem identified by that decision. Her legislative
    recommendation is presented in this proposal.
        The legislative proposal would amend the Gun-Free School Zones Act
    by adding the requirement that the Government prove that the firearm has
    ``moved in or the possession of such firearm otherwise affects
    interstate or foreign commerce.''
        The addition of this jurisdictional element would limit the Act's
    ``reach to a discrete set of firearm possessions that additionally have
    an explicit connection with or effect on interstate commerce,'' as the
    Court stated in Lopez, and thereby bring it within the Congress'
    Commerce Clause authority.
        The Attorney General reported to me that this proposal would have
    little, if any, impact on the ability of prosecutors to charge this
    offense, for the vast majority of firearms have ``moved in . . .
    commerce'' before reaching their eventual possessor.
        Furthermore, by also including the possibility of proving the
    offense by showing that the possession of the firearm ``otherwise
    affects interstate or foreign commerce,'' this proposal would leave open
    the possibility of showing, under the facts of a particular case, that
    although the firearm itself may not have ``moved in . . . interstate or
    foreign commerce,'' its possession nonetheless has a sufficient nexus to
    commerce.
        The Attorney General has advised that this proposal does not require
    the Government to prove that a defendant had knowledge that the firearm
    `` has moved in or the possession of such firearm otherwise affects
    interstate or foreign commerce.'' The defendant must know only that he
    or she possesses the firearm.
        I am committed to doing everything in my power to make schools
    places where young people can be secure, where they can learn, and where
    parents can be confident that discipline is enforced.
        I pledge that the Administration will do our part to help make our
    schools safe and the neighborhoods around them safe. We are prepared to
    work immediately with the Congress to enact this legislation. I urge the
    prompt and favorable consideration of this legislative proposal by the
    Congress.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    May 10, 1995.

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