Printz v. United States
- 1996/12/3
The Brady Bill (see Congress) requires "local chief law enforcement officers" to check the backgrounds of people wanting to buy a gun until a time when the U.S. Attorney General establishes a national system to do the checks. County sheriffs Jay Printz (Montana) and Richard Mack (Arizona) separately challenged the constitutionality of the background checks. They argued that the federal government cannot direct local officials to do something the Constitution only allows the federal government to do - that being to regulate businesses (like gun dealers) that cross state lines. The courts agreed with the sheriffs that Congress cannot force local officials to do mandatory checks, but they did allow the checks to be voluntary.
(Link: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case=/us/000/95-1478.html)
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U.S. vs. Lopez
- 1995/4/26
Alfonzo Lopez, a 12th grade high school student, carried a concealed weapon into his San Antonio, Texas high school. He was charged under Texas law with firearm possession on school premises. The next day, the state charges were dismissed after federal agents charged Lopez with violating a federal criminal statute, the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. The act forbids "any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that [he] knows...is a school zone." Lopez was found guilty and sentenced to six months' imprisonment and two years' supervised release.
(Link: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-1260.ZO.html)
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