In United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which made it a federal offense to possess a firearm in a school zone. The defendant, Alfonso Lopez Jr., was convicted under the act but challenged the law as an overreach of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the law was unconstitutional because it exceeded Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce. This decision reaffirmed the importance of limits on federal power and reasserted the principle of federalism.
