Carrying Guns

Carrying Guns

#2 “Carrying” a firearm (Muscarello v. USA) https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-1654.ZO.html A federal statute imposes a mandatory prison term of five years on anyone who uses or carries a firearm in the commission of a drug-trafficking crime. The US Supreme Court had to interpret what that meant in relation to two cases: In the first case, the defendant was caught transporting marijuana in his truck. When the police searched the vehicle, they found a handgun locked in the defendant’s glove compartment. In the second case, the two defendants were selling cocaine and had placed several guns in the trunk of their car. In both cases the lower courts had decided that the defendants had been “carrying firearms” in violation of the statute. The Supreme Court had to decide whether these defendants were in fact “carrying” firearms in these cases. Questions to consider: What should the Supreme Court have decided? Does a literal reading of the law lead you to conclude that the defendant violated this statute: Does “carrying a firearm” apply here? What does the 1 dictionary say? Does that matter? What was the likely intent of the framers of this statute? Does that matter? The dissenting opinion (the opinion of the judges who did not agree with the majority opinion) is also available as a link on the site I’ve made available to you. Consider the arguments made by those dissenting judges when you are weighing the decision.

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Carrying Guns
In the case, Muscarello v. The United Statesthe Supreme Courthad to determine the meaning of the word “carry” in relation to possession of a firearm. The literal meaning of the word “carry”in the context of the firearm-related legal provision was subject of discussion before the court,

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