Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 191

524US1

Unit: $U79

[09-08-00 13:44:10] PAGES PGT: OPIN

146

MUSCARELLO v. UNITED STATES

Ginsburg, J., dissenting

does not derive from the statutory complex at issue its thesis
that “ ‘[c]arry’ implies personal agency and some degree of
possession, whereas ‘transport’ does not have such a limited
connotation and, in addition, implies the movement of goods
in bulk over great distances.” Ante, at 134. Looking to
provisions Congress enacted, one ﬁnds that the Legislature
did not acknowledge or routinely adhere to the distinction
the Court advances today; instead, Congress sometimes em-
ployed “transports” when, according to the Court, “carries”
was the right word to use.

Section 925(a)(2)(B), for example, provides that no criminal
sanction shall attend “the transportation of [a] ﬁrearm or
ammunition carried out to enable a person, who lawfully re-
ceived such ﬁrearm or ammunition from the Secretary of the
Army, to engage in military training or in competitions.”
The full text of § 926A, rather than the truncated version the
Court presents, see ibid., is also telling:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or
any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivi-
sion thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited
by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving
a ﬁrearm shall be entitled to transport a ﬁrearm for any
lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully
possess and carry such ﬁrearm to any other place where
he may lawfully possess and carry such ﬁrearm if, dur-
ing such transportation the ﬁrearm is unloaded, and nei-
ther the ﬁrearm nor any ammunition being transported
is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the
passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle:
Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a com-
partment separate from the driver’s compartment the
ﬁrearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked
container other than the glove compartment or console.”

In describing when and how a person may travel in a vehi-
cle that contains his ﬁrearm without violating the law,