856
Opinion of the Court
It surely is not the common perception that a private, owner-occupied residence is "used" in the "activity" of receiving natural gas, a mortgage, or an insurance policy. Cf. Bailey, 516 U. S., at 145 (interpreting the word "use," as it appears in 18 U. S. C. § 924(c)(1), to mean active employment of a firearm and rejecting the Government's argument that a gun is "used" whenever its presence "protect[s] drugs" or "embolden[s]" a drug dealer). The Government does not allege that the Indiana residence involved in this case served as a home office or the locus of any commercial undertaking. The home's only "active employment," so far as the record reveals, was for the everyday living of Jones's cousin and his family.
Our decision in Russell does not warrant a less "use"-centered reading of § 844(i). In that case, which involved the arson of property rented out by its owner, see supra, at 853, the Court referred to the recognized distinction between legislation limited to activities "in commerce" and legislation invoking Congress' full power over activity substantially "affecting . . . commerce." 471 U. S., at 859- 860, and n. 4. The Russell opinion went on to observe, however, that "[b]y its terms," § 844(i) applies only to "property that is 'used' in an 'activity' that affects commerce." Id., at 862. "The rental of real estate," the Court then stated, "is unquestionably such an activity." Ibid.8 Here, as earlier emphasized, the owner used the property as his home, the center of his family life. He did not use the residence in any trade or business.
8 Notably, the Court in Russell did not rest its holding on the expansive interpretation advanced by the Government both in Russell and in this case. Compare Brief for United States in Russell v. United States, O. T. 1984, No. 435, p. 15 ("Petitioner used his building on South Union Street in an activity affecting interstate commerce by heating it with gas that moved interstate."), with Russell, 471 U. S., at 862 (focusing instead on fact that "[t]he rental of real estate is unquestionably . . . an activity" affecting commerce).
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