Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994

This article is about the U.S. federal law that requires school districts to adopt a gun-free position in exchange for federal funds for its schools. Not to be confused with the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.

The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 (GFSA) was part of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (IASA). The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 also amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.[1]

In 1994, Congress introduced the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, which encouraged each state receiving federal funds for education to follow suit and introduce their own laws, now known as zero tolerance laws.[2] President Bill Clinton signed the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 into law on March 31, 1994.[1] The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 requires each state receiving federal funds to have a state law in effect requiring local educational agencies to expel, for at least one year, any student who is determined to have brought a weapon to school. The one-year expulsion is mandatory, except when a chief administering officer of such local education agency may modify it on a case-by-case basis.[2] In addition, schools are directed to develop policies requiring referral to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system for any student who brings a firearm or weapon to school.[2]

  1. ^ a b 22 Am J. Crim. L 512 (1994-1995) S.O.S.—Saving Our Schools: The Constitiutionality of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990; Martinez, Robert A.
  2. ^ a b c 20 Pace L. Rev. 133(1999-2000) Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994: Zero Tolerance Takes Aim at Procedural Due Process, The; Cerrone, Kathleen M.