The
Federal GFSZA is one of the most hated pieces of anti-gun legislation in existence today, at least IMHO.
Not only is it widely believed to be unenforceable (
if you have the massive resources required to fight the US Department of Justice), as noted, it seems to only be used to add more charges to criminals who commit other crimes.
But that does not change the fact that it makes nearly every non-CHP gun carrier a felon. It falls under the category "let's make it illegal to breathe, so we can charge whomever we want with a crime." It has to be the Brady Bunch's dream, because it does, almost literally, make every gun owner a criminal, just as they have truly believed to be the case all along.
It is correct that as far as I know, nobody has ever been prosecuted
solely for a violation of the GFSZA. If such a case ever develops, that would be of paramount interest to the RKBA community.
Does this make you feel better? I refer you to
a recount of the oral arguments of the SCOTUS case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, from WorldNetDaily, with my emphasis added:
Upon her answer, Justice Scalia jumped into the argument as well, saying that based on Kagan's logic he had "no idea where the government would draw the line with respect to the medium that could be prohibited."
Kagan then softened her answer, reiterating an earlier suggestion that an FEC prohibition of a book would likely lose a legal challenge and adding, "What we're saying is that there has never been an enforcement action for books. Nobody has ever suggested – nobody in Congress, nobody in the administrative apparatus – has ever suggested that books pose any kind of corruption problem."
Scalia, however, was still not appeased.
"So you are a lawyer advising somebody who is about to come out with a book and you say, 'Don't worry, the FEC has never tried to send somebody to prison for this,'" he postulated. "'This statute covers it, but don't worry, the FEC has never done it.' Is that going to comfort your client? I don't think so."
No matter what the Feds may or may not have done in the past, it doesn't change the fact that carrying a gun within 1000 feet of school property makes most people a felon.
Welcome to America. May God help us.
TFred
