132
Opinion of the Court
States v. Molina, 102 F. 3d 928, 932 (CA7 1996); United States v. Willis, 89 F. 3d 1371, 1379 (CA8 1996); United States v. Miller, 84 F. 3d 1244, 1259-1260 (1996), overruled on other grounds, United States v. Holland, 116 F. 3d 1353 (CA10 1997); United States v. Giraldo, 80 F. 3d 667, 676-677 (CA2 1996); United States v. Farris, 77 F. 3d 391, 395-396 (CA11 1996).
B
We now explore more deeply the purely legal question of whether Congress intended to use the word "carry" in its ordinary sense, or whether it intended to limit the scope of the phrase to instances in which a gun is carried "on the person." We conclude that neither the statute's basic purpose nor its legislative history support circumscribing the scope of the word "carry" by applying an "on the person" limitation.
This Court has described the statute's basic purpose broadly, as an effort to combat the "dangerous combination" of "drugs and guns." Smith v. United States, 508 U. S. 223, 240 (1993). And the provision's chief legislative sponsor has said that the provision seeks "to persuade the man who is tempted to commit a Federal felony to leave his gun at home." 114 Cong. Rec. 22231 (1968) (Rep. Poff); see Busic v. United States, 446 U. S. 398, 405 (1980) (describing Poff's comments as "crucial material" in interpreting the purpose of § 924(c)); Simpson v. United States, 435 U. S. 6, 13-14 (1978) (concluding that Poff's comments are "clearly probative" and "certainly entitled to weight"); see also 114 Cong. Rec. 22243-22244 (statutes would apply to "the man who goes out taking a gun to commit a crime") (Rep. Hunt); id., at 22244 ("Of course, what we are trying to do by these penalties is to persuade the criminal to leave his gun at home") (Rep. Randall); id., at 22236 ("We are concerned . . . with having the criminal leave his gun at home") (Rep. Meskill).
From the perspective of any such purpose (persuading a criminal "to leave his gun at home"), what sense would it
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