In a 2022 case called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court affirmed that ordinary Americans have a right to bear arms in public for self-defense, and struck down New York’s restrictive framework for issuing concealed carry permits. This framework, in effect, left most civilians in the state without any lawful way to exercise their Second Amendment rights outside of the home. Bruen immediately drew the ire of gun control activists, who decried the ruling as a threat to public safety. But now it’s clear that the only thing Bruen has done is give peaceable New Yorkers a better chance to protect themselves from violent criminals, without being treated as violent criminals themselves.