Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
Page Number: 145.0

32 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

guns for purposes of self-defense).  To that extent the law 
burdens to some degree an interest in self-defense that for 
present purposes I have assumed the Amendment seeks to 
further. 

C 
In weighing needs and burdens, we must take account of
the  possibility  that  there  are  reasonable,  but  less  restric-
tive alternatives.  Are there other potential measures that 
might  similarly  promote  the  same  goals  while  imposing 
lesser restrictions?  See Nixon, 528 U. S., at 402 (BREYER, 
J.,  concurring)  (“existence  of  a  clearly  superior,  less  re-
strictive  alternative”  can  be  a  factor  in  determining
whether  a  law  is  constitutionally  proportionate).    Here  I 
see none. 

The  reason  there  is  no  clearly  superior,  less  restrictive
alternative to the District’s handgun ban is that the ban’s
very  objective  is  to  reduce  significantly  the  number  of 
handguns  in  the  District,  say,  for  example,  by  allowing  a
law  enforcement  officer  immediately  to  assume  that  any 
handgun  he  sees  is  an  illegal  handgun.    And  there  is  no 
plausible  way  to  achieve  that  objective  other  than  to  ban 
the guns.

It  does  not  help  respondent’s  case  to  describe  the  Dis-
trict’s  objective  more  generally  as  an  “effort  to  diminish
the  dangers  associated  with  guns.”    That  is  because  the 
very  attributes  that  make  handguns  particularly  useful
for  self-defense  are  also  what  make  them  particularly
dangerous.  That they are easy to hold and control means
that  they  are  easier  for  children  to  use.  See  Brief  for 
American Academy of Pediatrics et al. as Amici Curiae 19 
(“[C]hildren as young as three are able to pull the trigger
of  most  handguns”).  That  they  are  maneuverable  and 
permit a free hand likely contributes to the fact that they
are by far the firearm of choice for crimes such as rape and
robbery.  See Weapon Use and Violent Crime 2 (Table 2).