Cite as: 526 U. S. 275 (1999)
Scalia, J., dissenting
is an odd argument for the Government to make, since it has disagreed with those cases, see, e. g., Anderson, supra, at 1328; Lindsay, supra, at 674, and has succeeded in persuading two Circuits to the contrary, see United States v. Camps, 32 F. 3d 102, 106-109 (CA4 1994), cert. denied, 513 U. S. 1158 (1995); United States v. Lucas, 932 F. 2d 1210, 1222-1223 (CA8), cert. denied sub nom. Shakur, aka Tyler v. United States, 502 U. S. 869 (1991). But this dispute has nothing to do with the point before us here. I do not contend that using the firearm is "the entire essence of the offense." Reply Brief for United States 9. The predicate offense is assuredly an element of the crime—and if, for whatever reason, that element has the effect of limiting prosecution to one violation per predicate offense, it can do so just as effectively even if the "during" requirement is observed rather than ignored.
The short of the matter is that this defendant, who has a constitutional right to be tried in the State and district where his alleged crime was "committed," U. S. Const., Art. III, § 2, cl. 3; Amdt. 6, has been prosecuted for using a gun during a kidnaping in a State and district where all agree he did not use a gun during a kidnaping. If to state this case is not to decide it, the law has departed further from the meaning of language than is appropriate for a government that is supposed to rule (and to be restrained) through the written word.
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