Court Opinion

ID: 9488932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:00:02.713942+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:11.702796
License: Public Domain

COX, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I join the court’s opinion except for the holding that McKinney’s juvenile adjudication for carrying a concealed weapon in violation of Florida law constitutes a violent felony under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). I respectfully dissent from that holding.
The majority concludes that carrying a concealed weapon is conduct that “presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii). Our court concluded in United States v. Oliver, 20 F.3d 415 (11th Cir.1994), that “possession of a firearm by a convicted felon does *403not rise to the level of conduct presenting a serious potential risk of physical injury.” Id. at 417-18 (citing cases from several other circuits as persuasive). The Oliver court relied on the language of § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii), which includes as violent felonies “burglary, arson, or extortion, [and any crime that] involves the use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” The court noted that the specifically enumerated offenses “each manifest affirmative, overt and active conduct in which the danger posed to others extends beyond the mere possession of a weapon, and is far more threatening in an immediate sense.” Oliver, 20 F.3d at 418.
Carrying a concealed weapon, without more, is not, under Oliver’s analysis, different from illegal possession of a weapon. We look to the statutory elements of the offense in question rather than to the facts of McKinney’s ease. McKinney’s adjudication did not require proof that he intended to employ a concealed weapon for violent purposes. See United States v. Johnson, 953 F.2d 110, 115 (4th Cir.1991) (refusing to interpret statistical threat presented by felon in possession of firearm as evidence of specific intent of defendant).
Other courts that have addressed the issue have concluded that carrying a concealed weapon is not a violent felony. United States v. Whitfield, 907 F.2d 798, 800 (8th Cir.1990); United States v. Johnson, 704 F.Supp. 1403, 1407 (E.D.Mich.1989). I agree. Because I conclude that carrying a concealed weapon in violation of Florida law is not a violent felony under § 924(e), I would hold that the district court erred in finding McKinney to be an armed career criminal and enhancing his sentence on that basis.