Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
Page Number: 135.0

22 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

Armed Resistance to Crime, 86 J. Crim. L. & C. 150, 164 
(1995);  see  also  ILEETA  Brief  App.  1–6  (summarizing
studies regarding defensive uses of guns).  Another study
estimated  that  for  a  period  of  12  months  ending  in  1994, 
there  were  503,481  incidents  in  which  a  burglar  found
himself  confronted  by  an  armed  homeowner,  and  that  in
497,646  (98.8%)  of  them,  the  intruder  was  successfully 
scared away.   See Ikida, Dahlberg, Sacks, Mercy, &  Pow-
ell,  Estimating  Intruder-Related  Firearms  Retrievals  in
U. S.  Households,  12  Violence  &  Victims  363  (1997).    A 
third study suggests that gun-armed victims are substan-
tially less likely than non-gun-armed victims to be injured 
in  resisting  robbery  or  assault.    Barnett  &  Kates,  Under 
Fire, 45 Emory L. J. 1139, 1243–1244, n. 478 (1996).  And 
additional evidence suggests that criminals are likely to be
deterred from burglary and other crimes if they know the 
victim  is  likely  to  have  a  gun.    See  Kleck,  Crime  Control 
Through the Private Use of Armed Force, 35 Social Prob-
lems  1,  15  (1988)  (reporting  a  substantial  drop  in  the 
burglary rate in an Atlanta suburb that required heads of 
households  to  own  guns);  see  also  ILEETA  Brief  17–18 
(describing  decrease  in  sexual  assaults  in  Orlando  when 
women were trained in the use of guns). 
  Fourth,  respondent’s  amici  argue  that  laws  criminaliz-
ing gun possession are self-defeating, as evidence suggests
that  they  will  have  the  effect  only  of  restricting  law-
abiding  citizens,  but  not  criminals,  from  acquiring  guns.
See,  e.g.,  Brief  for  President  Pro  Tempore  of  Senate  of 
Pennsylvania  as  Amicus  Curiae  35,  36,  and  n. 15.    That 
effect,  they  argue,  will  be  especially  pronounced  in  the 
District,  whose  proximity  to  Virginia  and  Maryland  will
provide criminals with a steady supply of guns.  See Brief 
for Heartland Institute as Amicus Curiae 20. 

In  the  view  of  respondent’s  amici,  this  evidence  shows 
that other remedies—such as less restriction on gun own-
ership,  or  liberal  authorization  of  law-abiding  citizens  to