## Facts

- John Angus Smith offered to trade a MAC-10 automatic weapon and silencer to an undercover officer in exchange for cocaine.
- Smith was charged with drug-trafficking offenses and with using a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1).
- A jury convicted Smith on all counts; the § 924(c)(1) conviction carried an enhanced penalty because the firearm was a machinegun.
- Smith argued on appeal that § 924(c)(1) applies only when a firearm is used as a weapon, not when it is used as an item of barter.
- The court of appeals affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether trading a firearm for drugs constitutes “use” of a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1).
2. Whether the statutory phrase “uses a firearm” is limited to use of a gun as a weapon rather than as an item of exchange.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed.
- The Court held that exchanging a firearm for drugs is “use” of a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime under § 924(c)(1).
- The Court reasoned that the ordinary meaning of “use” includes employing a firearm as an item of barter.
- The Court relied on statutory context, including related provisions treating firearms as objects of transaction, to confirm the broader meaning of “use.”
- The Court concluded that the “during and in relation to” requirement was satisfied because the gun served to facilitate the drug transaction as the medium of exchange.

## Legal Principles

- Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), “use” of a firearm includes using the firearm as an object of barter in a drug transaction, not only wielding it as a weapon.
- Statutory interpretation may consider ordinary meaning and the structure of related provisions to determine the scope of a criminal statute’s operative verbs.
- The phrase “during and in relation to” requires a connection between the firearm and the predicate drug trafficking offense; a firearm satisfies this requirement when it facilitates the offense, including by functioning as consideration in the transaction.

## Conclusion

The Court construed § 924(c)(1) to cover a defendant who trades a gun for drugs, holding that such barter is a “use” of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime because the firearm facilitates the offense as a medium of exchange.


Smith v. United States, 508 U.S. 223 (1993)