Court Opinion

ID: 9493730
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:17:15.100515+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:00.009544
License: Public Domain

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Stephens was arrested for being a felon in possession of a handgun after he was discovered outside of a nightclub with a handgun in his waistband. For this crime which, ironically, is not a violent felony, he has been sentenced to incarceration for 15 years. Why such a long sentence? The district court concluded, and the majority agrees, that Stephens qualifies for substantially increased sentencing pursuant to *1035the Armed Career Criminal Act (Act), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) because he has three prior felony convictions, and those three felonies are “violent felonies” as defined in the Act.
The three prior felonies relied upon to sentence Stephens under the Act include two prior burglaries, and one conviction for using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).1 While the Act specifically lists “burglary” as a qualifying violent felony, until today no court has ever held in a published opinion that the violation of § 924(c) qualifies as a violent felony.2 Because I believe that such a violation may not be so classified, I must dissent.
For purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, a violent felony includes a felony that “involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii). We have previously held, when considering a similar sentence enhancement, that the offense of a felon in possession of a gun, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), does not qualify as a crime of violence because such conduct does not pose a “substantial risk” that physical force will be used. United States v. Canon, 993 F.2d 1439, 1441 (9th Cir.1993). Nor I believe does the conduct proscribed by § 924(c). For example, one can be convicted of violating § 924(c) simply for carrying a gun locked in the trunk of a car “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking offense. See Muscarello v. United States, 524 U.S. 125, 126-27, 118 S.Ct. 1911, 141 L.Ed.2d 111 (1998). Under these circumstances, it makes sense to treat the two types of gun possession offenses similarly for purposes of the Act.
Carrying a gun in the lockéd trunk of a car while committing a drug trafficking offense admittedly presents some risk of violence. However, some risk of violence is also present when a felon possesses a gun. Presumably, the reason Congress has prohibited felons from possessing guns is the risk such armed felons pose to society. But that risk is not so substantial that we consider being a felon in possession to constitute a violent felony. See Canon, 993 F.2d at 1441.
In light of Canon, I believe that the issue presented in this ease — whether the risk posed by a person’s carrying a gun during and in relation to drug trafficking is so great as to justify classifying the offense as a violent felony for purposes of the Act — is a close one. However, given our decision in Canon, the extraordinarily long sentences that must be imposed on defendants subject to the Armed Career Criminal Act, and the similarities of the two types of weapons offenses discussed above, I would not classify § 924(c) as a “violent felony” absent clearer evidence that Congress intended that we do so.
I am certainly not convinced that the risk posed by persons violating § 924(c) is significantly greater than the risk posed by felons in possession of guns. Accordingly, I would opt for some degree of lenity. A maximum 10-year sentence for the offense of unlawful possession of a weapon is enough. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). For the above reasons, I respectfully dissent.

. The § 924(c) violation arose as a result of a state probation search of Stephens’ car, in which officers found crack cocaine and a shotgun.

. The majority cites Warren v. Crabtree, 185 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir.1999) for the proposition that § 924(c) is a "violent felony." See supra slip op. at 696-97. In that case, we deferred to the United States Bureau of Prisons' "broad discretion” to designate § 924(c) as an offense that is not a "nonviolent offense” for purposes of sentence reductions pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(2)(B). Id. at 1021 (internal citation omitted). Rather than conduct a de novo review of the proper classification of § 924(c), we held merely that "the [Bureau] did not act unreasonably” when classifying § 924(c) for its purposes. Id. In this case, there is no agency rule to be accorded deference, and therefore, in my view, Warren sheds no light on the proper characterization of § 924(c) for purposes of the Act.