States V. Feds

One of the most important cases pending before the Supreme Court this term is Printz v. United States. On the surface, Printz appears to be a gun control matter because it involves a constitutional challenge to the hotly debated Brady law, but the underlying issue transcends the debate over gun control. The Printz case is, at bottom, a bare-knuckle fistfight between the federal and state governments over their respective turf. Make no mistake, the ruling in this case will have profound consequences for constitutional federalism in America.

The provisions of the Brady law are straightforward. The law requires the prospective buyer of a handgun to wait five business days before taking physical possession of the firearm. During the five day waiting period, local law enforcement officials are supposed to check the background of the prospective buyer for a criminal record or mental instability. The ostensible purpose of the law is "to keep guns out of the hands of criminals."

The issue before the Supreme Court is whether Congress can saddle state and local officials with federal legal responsibilities. The constitutional challenge was brought by Jay Printz, who is a sheriff in Ravalli County, Montana. Sheriff Printz claims that his understaffed office will be dangerously overextended if it must conduct time-consuming background checks on individuals who wish to purchase handguns. Printz's county has thirty thousand residents spread over 2,400 square miles; only two deputies are on patrol at any given moment. According to Printz, deputies will have to be taken off patrol and investigative duties in order to do "Brady work." The Justice Department has countered that the Brady law only requires local law enforcement officials to make "reasonable" efforts at background checks.

The outcome in Printz, however, will not turn upon whether the Brady Law is "unduly" burdensome. The issue to be resolved is one of principle: Can the federal government conscript state agencies and resources for its own purposes? The answer to that question is resolvable for anyone who takes seriously