Court Opinion

ID: 9479076
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:07:29.173376+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:48.630893
License: Public Domain

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
Although I agree that a machine gun is more dangerous than a single-shot, small-bore rifle, it seems to me that the guidelines do take the type of weapon adequately into consideration, for they do, at least to some extent, distinguish between weapon types, creating three different categories based on the type of weapon. Obviously the ultimate question in deciding if a circumstance was adequately considered1 is whether we should read the factors mentioned by the guidelines narrowly and literally, increasing the latitude for departure, or whether we should restrict the scope of departure by reading what they consider more broadly. The congressional aim of achieving sentencing equality is, I think, better served by the latter course. Since my view affects only the instruction we give the district court, I concur in the judgment and join in the rest of the opinion.

. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b).