Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 362

524US2

Unit: $U88

[09-06-00 16:44:02] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 524 U. S. 308 (1998)

317

Thomas, J., dissenting

law-abiding citizens. Federal
law uses this state ﬁnding
of dangerousness in forbidding petitioner to have any guns.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is

Afﬁrmed.

Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Scalia and Jus-

tice Souter join, dissenting.

The only limitation that Massachusetts law imposed on
petitioner’s possession of ﬁrearms was that he could not
carry handguns outside his home or business. See ante,
at 311.
In my view, Massachusetts law did not “expressly
provid[e]” that petitioner “may not . . . possess . . . ﬁrearms,”
18 U. S. C. § 921(a)(20), and thus petitioner cannot be sen-
tenced as an armed career criminal under § 924(e). Because
the Court holds to the contrary, I respectfully dissent.

.

.

§ 921(a)(20).

. ﬁrearms.”

Petitioner’s prior Massachusetts convictions qualify as
violent felonies for purposes of § 924(e) only if the “resto-
ration of [his] civil rights” by operation of Massachusetts
law “expressly provide[d] that [petitioner] may not .
.
possess .
In 1994, Massachu-
setts law did not expressly provide that petitioner could not
possess ﬁrearms. To the contrary: Petitioner was permit-
ted by Massachusetts law to possess shotguns, riﬂes, and
handguns. See ante, at 311; Mass. Gen. Laws §§ 140:123,
Indeed, Massachusetts provided
140:129B, 140:129C (1996).
petitioner with a ﬁrearm identiﬁcation card that enabled him
to possess such ﬁrearms.* The only restriction Massachu-
setts law placed on petitioner’s possession of ﬁrearms was
that he could not carry handguns outside his home or busi-
ness. See § 269:10(A). By prohibiting petitioner from pos-

*Petitioner was “entitled to” a ﬁrearm identiﬁcation card ﬁve years
after his release from prison. See Mass. Gen. Laws § 140:129B (1996); see
also Commonwealth v. Landry, 6 Mass. App. 404, 406, 376 N. E. 2d 1243,
1245 (1978) (ﬁrearm identiﬁcation card can be obtained as a “matter of
right”).