Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 93

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

BREYER, J., dissenting 

II 
A 

New York State requires individuals to obtain a license 
in order to carry a concealed handgun in public.  N. Y. Penal 
Law  Ann.  §400.00(2)  (West  Cum.  Supp.  2022).  I  address 
the  specifics  of  that  licensing  regime  in  greater  detail  in
Part II–B below.  Because, at this stage in the proceedings, 
the parties have not had an opportunity to develop the evi-
dentiary record, I refer to facts and representations made
in  petitioners’  complaint  and  in  amicus  briefs  filed  before 
us. 

Under New York’s regime, petitioners Brandon Koch and
Robert Nash have obtained restricted licenses that permit
them to carry a concealed handgun for certain purposes and 
at certain times and places.  They wish to expand the scope
of their licenses so that they can carry a concealed handgun 
without restriction. 

Koch and Nash are residents of Rensselaer County, New 
York.  Koch lives in Troy, a town of about 50,000, located 
eight miles from New York’s capital city of Albany, which 
has a population of about 98,000.  See App. 100; U. S. Cen-
sus  Bureau,  Quick  Facts:  Troy  City,  New  York  (last  up-
dated  July  1,  2021),  https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ 
troycitynewyork; id., Albany City, New York, https://www.
census.gov/quickfacts/albanycitynewyork.  Nash  lives  in 
Averill  Park,  a  small  town  12.5  miles  from  Albany.    App.
100. 

Koch and Nash each applied for a license to carry a con-
cealed handgun.  Both were issued restricted licenses that 
allowed them to carry handguns only for purposes of hunt-
ing and target shooting.  Id., at 104, 106.  But they wanted 
“unrestricted” licenses that would allow them to carry con-
cealed handguns “for personal protection and all lawful pur-
poses.”  Id., at 112; see also id., at 40.  They wrote to the
licensing  officer  in  Rensselaer  County—Justice  Richard