Court Opinion

ID: 9517146
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:05:33.253241+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:36.342124
License: Public Domain

SHEDD, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur with the result reached by Judge Gregory and with much of his analysis. However, I believe the issue of the possession of the firearm “in furtherance of’ a federal drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) is not a close call at all. We have previously recognized that firearms are tools of the drug trade, see United States v. Ward, 171 F.3d 188, 195 (4th Cir.1999); United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 886 (4th Cir.1996) (en banc); United States v. White, 875 F.2d 427, 433 (4th Cir.1989), and that a jury could reasonably conclude that a firearm kept near the location of drugs is for the personal protection of a defendant as a drug dealer or for the protection of his inventory, see United States v. Lomax, 293 F.3d 701, 705 (4th Cir.2002).