Cite as: 529 U. S. 848 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
United States v. Ryan, 9 F. 3d 660, 675 (CA8 1993) (Arnold, C. J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).7 The Government urges that the Fort Wayne, Indiana, residence into which Jones tossed a Molotov cocktail was constantly "used" in at least three "activit[ies] affecting commerce." First, the homeowner "used" the dwelling as collateral to obtain and secure a mortgage from an Oklahoma lender; the lender, in turn, "used" the property as security for the home loan. Second, the homeowner "used" the residence to obtain a casualty insurance policy from a Wisconsin insurer. That policy, the Government points out, safeguarded the interests of the homeowner and the mortgagee. Third, the homeowner "used" the dwelling to receive natural gas from sources outside Indiana. See Brief for United States 19-23.
The Government correctly observes that § 844(i) excludes no particular type of building (it covers "any building"); the provision does, however, require that the building be "used" in an activity affecting commerce. That qualification is most sensibly read to mean active employment for commercial purposes, and not merely a passive, passing, or past connection to commerce. Although "variously defined," the word "use," in legislation as in conversation, ordinarily signifies "active employment." Bailey v. United States, 516 U. S. 137, 143, 145 (1995); see also Asgrow Seed Co. v. Winterboer, 513 U. S. 179, 187 (1995) ("When terms used in a statute are undefined, we give them their ordinary meaning.").
7 In Ryan, Chief Judge Arnold dissented from a panel decision holding that the arson of a permanently closed fitness center fell within § 844(i)'s prohibition. The panel majority considered adequate either of two interstate commerce connections: the building was owned and leased by out-of-state parties, and received natural gas from across state borders. The panel added, however, that it would not extend the decision "to property which is purely private in nature, such as a privately owned home, used solely for residential purposes." 9 F. 3d, at 666-667. Sitting en banc, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the panel's judgment. See United States v. Ryan, 41 F. 3d 361 (1994), cert. denied, 514 U. S. 1082 (1995).
855
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