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Page Number: 7.0

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

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–843 
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NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOCIATION, 
INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v. KEVIN P. BRUEN, IN 
HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SUPERINTENDENT 
OF NEW YORK STATE POLICE, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 

[June 23, 2022] 

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court. 
In  District  of  Columbia  v.  Heller,  554  U. S.  570  (2008), 
and McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U. S. 742 (2010), we recog-
nized that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect
the  right  of  an  ordinary,  law-abiding  citizen  to  possess  a 
handgun in the home for self-defense.  In this case, petition-
ers and respondents agree that ordinary, law-abiding citi-
zens  have  a  similar  right  to  carry  handguns  publicly  for 
their self-defense.  We too agree, and now hold, consistent 
with Heller and McDonald, that the Second and Fourteenth 
Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a hand-
gun for self-defense outside the home. 

The parties nevertheless dispute whether New York’s li-
censing  regime  respects  the  constitutional  right  to  carry
handguns publicly for self-defense.  In 43 States, the gov-
ernment issues licenses to carry based on objective criteria.
But in six States, including New York, the government fur-
ther conditions issuance of a license to carry on a citizen’s 
showing of some additional special need.  Because the State