This is an example of which of the following aspects of federalism in the United States?
In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which required background checks for gun purchases from licensed gun dealers. The bill required local chief law enforcement officers to perform background checks on prospective handgun purchasers until the Attorney General created a federal system to do this task.
Two county sheriffs sued the United States, arguing that the law was an unconstitutional use of federal power. The case, Printz v. United States, went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the county sheriffs. The Court ruled that the necessary and proper clause does not give the federal government the power to require local law enforcement to fulfill the federal task of performing background checks.
