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

Opinion of the Court 

of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an ap-
plicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we con-
clude that the State’s licensing regime violates the Consti-
tution. 

I 
A 
New York State has regulated the public carry of hand-
guns at least since the early 20th century.  In 1905, New 
York made it a misdemeanor for anyone over the age of 16 
to “have or carry concealed upon his person in any city or
village of [New York], any pistol, revolver or other firearm 
without a written license . . . issued to him by a police mag-
istrate.”  1905 N. Y. Laws ch. 92, §2, pp. 129–130; see also
1908 N. Y. Laws ch. 93, §1, pp. 242–243 (allowing justices 
of the peace to issue licenses).  In 1911, New York’s “Sulli-
van Law” expanded the State’s criminal prohibition to the
possession of all handguns—concealed or otherwise—with-
out a government-issued license.  See 1911 N. Y. Laws ch. 
195, §1, p. 443.  New York later amended the Sullivan Law 
to clarify the licensing standard: Magistrates could “issue 
to [a] person a license to have and carry concealed a pistol
or revolver without regard to employment or place of pos-
sessing  such  weapon”  only  if  that  person  proved  “good 
moral character” and “proper cause.”  1913 N. Y. Laws ch. 
608, §1, p. 1629. 

Today’s licensing scheme largely tracks that of the early 
1900s.  It is a crime in New York to possess “any firearm”
without a license, whether inside or outside the home, pun-
ishable by up to four years in prison or a $5,000 fine for a 
felony offense, and one year in prison or a $1,000 fine for a 
misdemeanor.  See N. Y. Penal Law Ann. §§265.01–b (West 
2017),  261.01(1)  (West  Cum.  Supp.  2022),  70.00(2)(e)  and 
(3)(b),  80.00(1)(a)  (West  2021),  70.15(1),  80.05(1).    Mean-
while,  possessing  a  loaded  firearm  outside  one’s  home  or 
place of business without a license is a felony punishable by