Lopez was a great case - I was particularly impressed with Thomas' concurring opinion.  But, the Lopez case did not place a huge limitation on the Commerce Clause power.  It only said that when Congress isn't regulating the instrumentalities of commerce, or the channels of interstate commerce, it must be regulating activities that substantially relate or affect interstate commerce and there must be an economic effect.  Lopez just added the economic effect part to the Commerce Clause analysis.

The Court found the statute unconstitutional because it found no nexus between banning guns in school zones and the economy.  The Court was quite right... that would pretty much allow Congress to do anything it wanted and there needed to be some limitation. 

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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