In response to today’s decision in New York Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, President Biden said:
I am deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Since 1911, the State of New York has required individuals who would like to carry a concealed weapon in public to show a need to do so for the purpose of self-defense and to acquire a license. More than a century later, the United States Supreme Court has chosen to strike down New York’s long-established authority to protect its citizens. This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all.
In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society — not less — to protect our fellow Americans. I remain committed to doing everything in my power to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer. I have already taken more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any other President during their first year in office, and I will continue to do all that I can to protect Americans from gun violence.
You’ll hear a lot of this today, but it’s a strange non sequitur. Bruen dealt exclusively with concealed carry, and concealed carry has absolutely nothing to do with mass shootings such as those “in Buffalo and Uvalde” — except insofar as, occasionally, concealed carriers are able to stop them. Whatever limits have been placed by the Court on the other gun-control provisions Biden may covet came from Heller and McDonald, not from today’s ruling.
As for “the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines,” those have nothing to do with concealed carry either — let alone with the prevalence of the “shall issue” approach that Bruen makes mandatory in New York (and is currently the norm in 43 of the 50 states). On the contrary: Data from Florida and Texas have shown that concealed carriers are, on average, seven times more law-abiding than the police.