Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 94

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

11 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

McNally,  a  justice  of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court—re-
questing that the hunting and target shooting restrictions 
on  their  licenses  be  removed.    Id.,  at  40,  111–113.  After 
holding  individual  hearings  for  each  petitioner,  Justice 
McNally denied their requests.  Id., at 31, 41, 105, 107, 114. 
He clarified that, in addition to hunting and target shoot-
ing, Koch and Nash could “carry concealed for purposes of 
off road back country, outdoor activities similar to hunting,
for example fishing, hiking & camping.”  Id., at 41, 114.  He 
also permitted Koch, who was employed by the New York
Court  System’s  Division  of  Technology,  to  “carry  to  and 
from work.”  Id., at 111, 114.  But he reaffirmed that Nash 
was prohibited from carrying a concealed handgun in loca-
tions “typically open to and frequented by the general pub-
lic.”  Id., at 41.  Neither Koch nor Nash alleges that he ap-
pealed  Justice  McNally’s  decision.  Brief  for  Respondents 
13; see App. 122–126.

Instead, petitioners Koch and Nash, along with the New 
York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., brought this law-
suit  in  federal  court  against  Justice  McNally  and  other 
State representatives responsible for enforcing New York’s
firearms laws.  Petitioners claimed that the State’s refusal 
to  modify  Koch’s  and  Nash’s  licenses  violated  the  Second 
Amendment.  The District Court dismissed their complaint. 
It  followed  Second  Circuit  precedent  holding  that  New 
York’s licensing regime was constitutional.  See Kachalsky, 
701 F. 3d, at 101.  The Court of Appeals for the Second Cir-
cuit affirmed.  We granted certiorari to review the constitu-
tionality of “New York’s denial of petitioners’ license appli-
cations.”  Ante, at 8 (majority opinion). 

B 
As  the  Court  recognizes,  New  York’s  licensing  regime
traces its origins to 1911, when New York enacted the “Sul-
livan  Law,”  which  prohibited  public  carriage  of  handguns 
without a license.  See 1911 N. Y. Laws ch. 195, §1, p. 443.