Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 73.0

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

ALITO, J., concurring 

defense is likely to be deterred from acquiring a gun by the
knowledge that the gun cannot be carried outside the home.
See post, at 3.  And while the dissent seemingly thinks that 
the ubiquity of guns and our country’s high level of gun vi-
olence provide reasons for sustaining the New York law, the 
dissent appears not to understand that it is these very facts
that cause law-abiding citizens to feel the need to carry a
gun for self-defense.

No  one  apparently  knows  how  many  of  the  400  million 
privately held guns are in the hands of criminals, but there
can  be  little  doubt  that  many  muggers  and  rapists  are 
armed and are undeterred by the Sullivan Law.  Each year, 
the New York City Police Department (NYPD) confiscates 
thousands of guns,2 and it is fair to assume that the number 
of guns seized is a fraction of the total number held unlaw-
fully.  The police cannot disarm every person who acquires 
a gun for use in criminal activity; nor can they provide bod-
yguard protection for the State’s nearly 20 million residents 
or the 8.8 million people who live in New York City.  Some 
of  these  people  live  in  high-crime  neighborhoods.    Some 
must traverse dark and dangerous streets in order to reach
their  homes  after  work  or  other  evening  activities.    Some 
are members of groups whose members feel especially vul-
nerable.  And some of these people reasonably believe that 
unless they can brandish or, if necessary, use a handgun in
the case of attack, they may be murdered, raped, or suffer
some other serious injury. 

Ordinary  citizens  frequently  use  firearms  to  protect 

—————— 

2 NYPD statistics show approximately 6,000 illegal guns were seized 
in 2021.  A. Southall, This Police Captain’s Plan To Stop Gun Violence 
Uses More Than Handcuffs, N. Y. Times, Feb. 4, 2022.  According to re-
cent remarks by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the NYPD has con-
fiscated  3,000  firearms  in  2022  so  far.    City  of  New  York,  Transcript: 
Mayor  Eric  Adams  Makes  Announcement  About  NYPD  Gun  Violence 
Suppression Division (June 6, 2022), https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-
mayor/news/369-22/trascript-mayor-eric-adams-makes-announcement-
nypd-gun-violence-suppression-division.