In his dissent to today's Supreme Court Second Amendment ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, Justice Stephen Breyer reiterates his longstanding argument that gun regulations deserve special deference from courts because guns endanger human life. He argues that the Court's decisions is wrong because it "severely burdens" States' efforts to "address some of the dangers of gun violence…. by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds." It isn't just that Breyer believes courts must take these "dangers" into account. He contends they justify near-total judicial deference in gun rights cases - deference far-reaching enough to uphold the New York law at issue in this case, which presumptively bans carrying of guns outside the home by nearly all law-abiding citizens, thereby effectively gutting the "bear" part of the right to "keep and bear arms."
