284
Scalia, J., dissenting
and eat it (which could be prosecuted either in New Jersey, where the cookie was stolen, or in Maryland, where it was eaten) and a statute making it a crime to eat a cookie while robbing a bakery (which could be prosecuted only where the ingestive theft occurred).
The Court believes its holding is justified by the continuing nature of the kidnaping predicate offense, which invokes the statute providing that "any offense against the United States begun in one district and completed in another, or committed in more than one district, may be inquired of and prosecuted in any district in which such offense was begun, continued, or completed." 18 U. S. C. § 3237(a). To disallow the New Jersey prosecution here, the Court suggests, is to convert § 924(c)(1) from a continuing offense to a "point-in-time" offense. Ante, at 281. That is simply not so. I in no way contend that the kidnaping, or, for that matter, the use of the gun, can occur only at one point in time. Each can extend over a protracted period, and in many places. But § 924(c)(1) is violated only so long as, and where, both continuing acts are being committed simultaneously. That is what the word "during" means. Thus, if the defendant here had used or carried the gun throughout the kidnaping, in Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland, he could have been prosecuted in any of those States. As it was, however, he used a gun during a kidnaping only in Maryland.
Finally, the Government contends that focusing on the "use or carry" element of § 924(c)(1) is "difficult to square" with the cases holding that there can be only one § 924(c)(1) violation for each predicate offense. Reply Brief for United States 9 (citing United States v. Palma-Ruedas, 121 F. 3d 841, 862-863 (CA3 1997) (Alito, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (case below)). See, e. g., United States v. Anderson, 59 F. 3d 1323, 1328-1334 (CADC) (en banc), cert. denied, 516 U. S. 999 (1995); United States v. Taylor, 13 F. 3d 986, 992-994 (CA6 1994); United States v. Lindsay, 985 F. 2d 666, 672-676 (CA2), cert. denied, 510 U. S. 832 (1993). This
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