Cite as: 530 U. S. 120 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
Fourth, the Government argues that the legislative history of the statute favors interpreting § 924(c) as setting forth sentencing factors, not elements. It points out that § 924(c), as originally enacted, provided a mandatory minimum prison term of at least one year (up to a maximum of 10 years) where a person (1) "use[d] a firearm to commit any felony," or (2) "carr[ied] a firearm unlawfully during the commission of any felony." Gun Control Act of 1968, § 102, 82 Stat. 1223; see also Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970, § 13, 84 Stat. 1889. In 1984, Congress amended the law, eliminating the range of permissible penalties, setting a mandatory prison term of five years, and specifying that that term was to be added on top of the prison term related to the underlying "crime of violence," including statutory sentences that imposed certain other weapons-related enhancements. See Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, § 1005(a), 98 Stat. 2138. In 1986, Congress again amended the law by providing for a 10-year mandatory prison term (20 years for subsequent offenses) "if the firearm is a machinegun, or is equipped with a firearm silencer or firearm muffler." Firearms Owners' Protection Act, § 104(a)(2), 100 Stat. 456. In 1988, Congress changed the provision to its here-relevant form. Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, § 6460, 102 Stat. 4373.
The Government finds three features of the history surrounding the enactment of the key 1986 version of the statute significant. First, the House Report spoke in terms of a sentence, not an offense. The Report stated, for example, that the relevant bill would create "a new mandatory prison term of ten years for using or carrying a machine gun during and in relation to a crime of violence or a drug trafficking offense for a first offense, and twenty years for a subsequent offense." H. R. Rep. No. 99-495, p. 28 (1986); see also id., at 2 (bill "[p]rovides a mandatory prison term of ten years for using or carrying a machine gun during and in relation to a crime of violence or a drug trafficking offense, and a
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