Printz v. United States - Significance, John Hinckley Helps Write The Brady Bill, The Majority Takes Its Cue From History

Printz v. United States - Significance

Printz v. United States - Further Readings

Printz v. United States - John Hinckley Helps Write The Brady Bill

On 30 March 1981, a young man named John Hinckley--who later claimed he was inspired by the movie Taxi Driver and a desire to impress its young star, actress Jodie Foster--fired shots at President Ronald Reagan. Wounded in the shooting were the president, a secret service agent, and White House Press Secretary James Brady. President Reagan, who had been in office only two months, would recover fro…

Printz v. United States - The Majority Takes Its Cue From History

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed by a 5-4 vote. Because there was no text in the Constitution which addressed the specific question of whether Congress could legally compel state officers to execute federal law, wrote Justice Scalia, the Court looked for its answers in "historical understanding and practice, in the Constitution's structure, and in this Court's jurisprudence." Though he warned that …

Printz v. United States - The Dissent Offers A Different Reading Of History

Of the four dissenters, several wrote opinions questioning the majority's reading of history, particularly of the ruling in New York. Justice Stevens, in an opinion joined by the other three--Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, and Souter--held that Congress was fully authorized by the Constitution to impose affirmative obligations (i.e., "You must do this . . . ") on citizens. "This conclusion," he wrote,…

Printz v. United States - Impact

Like many Supreme Court cases, Printz was not really about the issue it supposedly addressed--in this case, gun control. Instead, it was about the relative power of the federal and state governments, an issue raised in numerous parts of the Constitution, including the Tenth Amendment. Jerome L. Wilson pointed out the difference between the practical and the constitutional issues in the title of hi…

Printz v. United States - Related Cases

Printz v. United States - The Brady Bill--does It Really Fight Crime?

The Brady Handgun Control Act provides gun-control measures such as the establishment of a five-day waiting period for purchase of a firearm. The law's passage in 1993 highlighted the continuing controversy over gun control. In 1996, President Bill Clinton called for measures to tighten Brady Bill restrictions with regard to persons convicted of misdemeanors in domestic abuse cases. According to B…