Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 70

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

1 

ALITO, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

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 ALITO, concurring. 
I join the opinion of the Court in full but add the following 

comments in response to the dissent. 

I 
Much of the dissent seems designed to obscure the spe-
cific question that the Court has decided, and therefore it 
may be helpful to provide a succinct summary of what we
have actually held.  In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 
U. S.  570  (2008),  the  Court  concluded  that  the  Second 
Amendment  protects  the  right  to  keep  a  handgun  in  the
home  for  self-defense.  Heller  found  that  the  Amendment 
codified a preexisting right and that this right was regarded
at the time of the Amendment’s adoption as rooted in “ ‘the 
natural right of resistance and self-preservation.’ ”  Id., at 
“[T]he  inherent  right  of  self-defense,”  Heller  ex-
594. 
plained, is “central to the Second Amendment right.”  Id., 
at 628. 

Although  Heller concerned the possession of a handgun
in  the  home,  the  key point  that  we  decided was  that  “the 
people,” not just members of the “militia,” have the right to
use a firearm to defend themselves.  And because many peo-
ple face a serious risk of lethal violence when they venture