In July, the Black Attorneys of Legal Aid and nine public defenders’ offices in New York state filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court. It’s hardly remarkable for criminal defense attorneys to file such a brief advocating for a given rule, and when they do, it usually attracts little attention. But this wasn’t just any criminal procedure case. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen is a Second Amendment challenge seeking to strike down a state gun licensing scheme. And the attorneys are taking the same side as a host of libertarian and conservative organizations — including twenty-four Republican senators led by Ted Cruz.

As expected, the brief attracted criticism from progressive commentators. While critics may be right that conservative justices will use the brief as cover against attacks from the Left, this criticism potentially obscures a key point: the brief shines much-needed light on the ways in which US gun control has contributed to mass incarceration and the hyper-policing of marginalized communities, particularly low-income black men. Approaches like New York’s licensing scheme help strengthen institutions of policing and criminal punishment.

The attorneys responsible for the brief spend their days advocating on behalf of some of the most powerless and maligned people in society: poor people charged with crimes. Their argument is a simple one, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into our polarized politics on gun control: laws that criminalize gun possession invite discriminatory enforcement.