Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 90.0

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

7 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

Consider, too, interactions with police officers.  The pres-
ence of a gun in the hands of a civilian poses a risk to both
officers and civilians.  Amici prosecutors and police chiefs
tell us that most officers who are killed in the line of duty 
are killed by firearms; they explain that officers in States 
with high rates of gun ownership are three times as likely 
to be killed in the line of duty as officers in States with low 
rates of gun ownership.  Brief for Prosecutors Against Gun 
Violence as Amicus Curiae 23–24; Brief for Former Major
City Police Chiefs as Amici Curiae 13–14, and n. 21, (citing 
D.  Swedler,  M.  Simmons,  F.  Dominici,  &  D.  Hemenway,
Firearm Prevalence and Homicides of Law Enforcement Of-
ficers in the United States, 105 Am. J. Pub. Health 2042, 
2045  (2015)).    They  also  say  that  States  with  the  highest 
rates  of  gun  ownership  report  four  times  as  many  fatal
shootings of civilians by police officers compared to States
with the lowest rates of gun ownership.  Brief for Former 
Major  City  Police  Chiefs  as  Amici  Curiae  16  (citing  D. 
Hemenway, D. Azrael, A. Connor, & M. Miller, Variation in
Rates of Fatal Police Shootings Across US States: The Role
of Firearm Availability, 96 J. Urb. Health 63, 67 (2018)).

These  are  just  some  examples  of  the  dangers  that  fire-
arms pose.  There is, of course, another side to the story.  I 
am not simply saying that “guns are bad.”  See ante, at 8 
(ALITO, J., concurring).  Some Americans use guns for legit-
imate purposes, such as sport (e.g., hunting or target shoot-
ing), certain types of employment (e.g., as a private security
guard), or self-defense.  Cf. ante, at 4–6 (ALITO, J., concur-
ring).  Balancing these lawful uses against the dangers of 
firearms  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of  elected  bodies, 
such as legislatures.  It requires consideration of facts, sta-
tistics, expert opinions, predictive judgments, relevant val-
ues,  and  a  host  of  other  circumstances,  which  together
make  decisions  about  how,  when,  and  where  to  regulate 
guns more appropriately legislative work.  That considera-
tion  counsels  modesty and  restraint  on  the  part  of  judges