New York required applicants for a public-carry handgun license to show proper cause, meaning a special need for self-defense. The challengers argued that the requirement violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court held that the Second Amendment protects carrying a handgun for self-defense outside the home and that the State could not demand a showing of special need. The Court required firearm restrictions to be justified by the Nation's historical tradition of regulation and reversed the judgment below.