STEP 1 - Review the Commerce Clause.

The Commerce Clause says:

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3

"The Congress shall have the power ...to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes..."

In recent times, the Supreme Court has interpreted this clause very broadly, which gives a lot of power to the federal government.

Specifically, under this clause the federal government can regulate the following categories of activities/things:

• • • channels of interstate commerce including highways, waterways, and air traffic.
    • people, machines, and things used in carrying out commerce.
    • things moving in interstate commerce.
    • commercial activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

STEP 2 - Submit your response.

Submit your response to the following prompt:

Lawmakers are horrified by the number of shootings that take place in our schools.

The federal government wants to pass a law that makes it a federal crime to possess a gun on the property of a public school.

1. Can the federal government do this under the Commerce Clause?

2.If you think it CAN do this under the Commerce Clause-Which category of activities/things that the federal government can regulate under the Commerce Clause applies here?

If you think it CANNOT do this under the Commerce Clause-explain why none of the categories of activities/things that the federal government can regulate under the Commerce Clause apply here.