Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
Page Number: 134

Cite as:  554 U. S. ____ (2008) 

21 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

NRA  Brief).  Indeed,  a  comparison  with  49  other  major 
cities  reveals  that  the  District’s  homicide  rate  is  actually
substantially  higher  relative  to  these  other  cities  than  it 
was  before  the  handgun  restriction  went  into  effect.    See 
Brief  for  Academics  as  Amici  Curiae  7–10  (hereinafter 
Academics’  Brief);  see  also  Criminologists’  Brief  6–9,  3a–
4a, 7a.  Respondent’s amici report similar results in com-
paring  the  District’s  homicide  rates  during  that  period  to
that  of  the  neighboring  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia
(neither  of which  restricts  handguns  to  the  same  degree), 
and  to  the  homicide  rate  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole.    See 
Academics’ Brief 11–17; Criminologists’ Brief 6a, 8a. 
  Second, respondent’s amici point to a statistical analysis 
that  regresses  murder  rates  against  the  presence  or  ab-
sence  of  strict  gun  laws  in  20  European  nations.    See 
Criminologists’  Brief  23  (citing  Kates  &  Mauser,  Would 
Banning  Firearms  Reduce  Murder  and  Suicide?  30  Harv.
J. L.  &  Pub.  Pol’y  649,  651–694  (2007)).    That  analysis
concludes  that  strict  gun  laws  are  correlated  with  more 
murders, not fewer.  See Criminologists’ Brief 23; see also 
id.,  at  25–28.  They  also  cite  domestic  studies,  based  on 
data  from  various  cities,  States,  and  the  Nation  as  a 
whole, suggesting that a reduction in the number of guns 
does not lead to a reduction in the amount of violent crime. 
See id., at 17–20.  They further argue that handgun bans
do not reduce suicide rates, see id., at 28–31, 9a, or rates 
of  accidents,  even  those  involving  children,  see  Brief  for 
International  Law  Enforcement  Educators  and  Trainers 
Assn.  et al.  as  Amici  Curiae  App.  7–15  (hereinafter 
ILEETA Brief). 

Third,  they  point  to  evidence  indicating  that  firearm
ownership  does  have  a  beneficial  self-defense  effect.
Based  on  a  1993  survey,  the  authors  of  one  study  esti-
mated that there were 2.2-to-2.5 million defensive uses of 
guns  (mostly  brandishing,  about  a  quarter  involving  the
actual  firing  of  a  gun)  annually.  See  Kleck  &  Gertz,