## Facts

- Two consolidated prosecutions involved 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), which imposed a mandatory consecutive term for anyone who, “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime, “uses or carries a firearm.”
- Roland J. Bailey was stopped for traffic infractions in the District of Columbia; officers found ammunition and multiple bags of cocaine in the passenger compartment.
- After Bailey’s arrest, officers searched the trunk and found cash and a loaded 9 mm pistol.
- Bailey was convicted of drug offenses and of “using and carrying” a firearm under § 924(c)(1), receiving a mandatory consecutive 60-month sentence.
- Candisha Summerita Robinson sold crack cocaine to an undercover officer from her apartment in two controlled buys.
- When police executed a warrant, they found crack cocaine and an unloaded .22 pistol that was holstered and locked inside a trunk in Robinson’s bedroom closet.
- Robinson was convicted of drug offenses and of “using or carrying” a firearm under § 924(c)(1), also receiving a mandatory consecutive 60-month sentence.
- The court of appeals, sitting en banc, affirmed both § 924(c)(1) convictions under an “accessibility and proximity” approach to “use.”

## Issues

1. Whether evidence that a firearm was stored near drugs or drug proceeds, and was accessible to the defendant, is sufficient to prove “use” of a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1).

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously reversed and remanded.
- The Court held that “use” in § 924(c)(1) requires evidence of the defendant’s active employment of the firearm, making it an operative factor in relation to the predicate offense.
- Proximity and accessibility of a firearm to drugs or drug proceeds, without more, is insufficient to establish “use.”
- On remand, the government could pursue liability under the separate “carries” prong if supported by the record.

## Legal Principles

- “Use” under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) means active employment of a firearm, not mere possession or storage.
- Active employment includes conduct such as brandishing, displaying, bartering, striking with, firing, or attempting to fire a firearm.
- Construing “use” to include mere proximity or accessibility collapses “use” into possession and risks making “carries” superfluous.
- A § 924(c)(1) “use” conviction requires proof that the firearm functioned as an operative factor “during and in relation to” the predicate crime.

## Conclusion

The Court limited § 924(c)(1)’s “use” prong to situations where the defendant actively employed the firearm in connection with the drug offense; guns merely stored or kept accessible near drugs or proceeds do not satisfy “use,” requiring reversal of convictions based only on proximity or accessibility.


Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137 (1995)