Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 75

6  NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSN., INC. v. BRUEN 

ALITO, J., concurring 

https://www.wate.com/news/local-news/jefferson-city-police-
legally-armed-good-samaritan-stops-assault/). 

In other incidents, a law-abiding person was driven to vi-
olate the Sullivan Law because of fear of victimization and 
as a result was arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated.  See 
Brief for Black Attorneys of Legal Aid et al. as Amici Curiae 
22–25. 

Some briefs were filed by members of groups whose mem-
bers feel that they have special reasons to fear attacks.  See 
Brief for Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association 
as Amicus Curiae; Brief for DC Project Foundation et al. as 
Amici Curiae; Brief for Black Guns Matter et al. as Amici 
Curiae; Brief for Independent Women’s Law Center as Ami-
cus Curiae; Brief for National African American Gun Asso-
ciation, Inc., as Amicus Curiae. 

I reiterate: All that we decide in this case is that the Sec-
ond Amendment protects the right of law-abiding people to 
carry a gun outside the home for self-defense and that the 
Sullivan  Law,  which  makes  that  virtually  impossible  for 
most New Yorkers, is unconstitutional. 

II 

This brings me to Part II–B of the dissent, post, at 11–21, 
which chastises the Court for deciding this case without a 
trial and factual findings about just how hard it is for a law-
abiding New Yorker to get a carry permit.  The record be-
fore us, however, tells us everything we need on this score. 
At argument, New York’s solicitor general was asked about 
an  ordinary  person  who  works  at  night  and  must  walk 
through dark and crime-infested streets to get home.  Tr. of 
Oral Arg. 66–67.  The solicitor general was asked whether 
such a person would be issued a carry permit if she pleaded: 
“[T]here have been a lot of muggings in this area, and I am 
scared to death.”  Id., at 67.  The solicitor general’s candid
answer was “in general,” no.  Ibid.  To get a permit, the ap-
plicant  would  have  to  show  more—for  example,  that  she