Final answer:
The correct answer is (A) United States v. Lopez (1995), where the Supreme Court deemed the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 beyond Congress's authority under commerce regulation, revealing the Court's conservative shift and activist stance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Supreme Court held in United States v. Lopez (1995) that the federal Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 exceeded Congress's constitutional authority to regulate commerce. The Court ruled that the Act did not substantially affect interstate commerce, marking a significant departure from its earlier broad interpretation of the commerce clause that allowed for the regulation of many local commercial activities.
This case emphasized the tension between judicial restraint and strict constructionism versus judicial activism and loose constructionism. The decision in United States v. Lopez was considered an exemplar of strict constructionism, by adhering closely to what the Court believed were the original intentions of the framers, and at the same time, an activist move as it curtailed the power of Congress under the commerce clause for the first time in decades.
The ruling signified a shift towards a more conservative interpretation of the Second Amendment and the regulation of guns by Congress.