justice samuel alito wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which he was joined by justice clarence thomas. justice alito characterized the per curiam decision as "grudging" and wrote that "[t]he reasoning of the massachusetts court poses a grave threat to the fundamental right of self-defense". he provided an analysis of why he believed that the massachusetts court's ruling contradicted "heller" and other cases interpreting the second amendment. after concluding that the massachusetts stun gun ban violates the second amendment, justice alito wrote: "if the fundamental right of self-defense does not protect caetano, then the safety of all americans is left to the mercy of state authorities who may be more concerned about disarming people than about keeping them safe".