Court Opinion

ID: 9481877
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:34:33.780982+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:38.281205
License: Public Domain

ENGEL, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Given the unique circumstances in this case I concur, although I believe that normally in such a case I would leave the trial judge’s determinations undisturbed. A Derringer is a small pistol and the defendant did in fact possess it, albeit constructively. I cannot equate a Derringer with a deer rifle and I doubt that there are very many deer hunters who would. The sentencing commission in Application Note 3 was trying to exclude a relatively innocent class of gun owners from the enhancement provision of the guidelines and so far as I know, a Derringer was always designed for use in potential human confrontation. Furthermore I was much disturbed by the evidence which showed at the time of his arrest, the defendant possessed two 9mm bullets in his pocket. This alone suggests a certain predisposition toward firearms on the part of the defendant. At the same time I understand that it is virtually certain that no one could possibly believe that a 9mm bullet could fit into a .22 caliber Derringer. Thus the evidence that the weapon was an antique collector’s item and its location when it was found adequately support the majority’s conclusion that it was clearly improbable that the weapon was connected to the offense. Had the weapon itself been more accessible to the defendant or had the bullets found been capable of substitution for the normal ammunition of the Derringer, however, I am quite certain that I would have agreed with the trial judge in applying the enhancement.