Smith v. United States (1993)

The defendant exchanged a firearm for cocaine and was convicted of drug trafficking. The prosecution claimed this triggered enhanced sentencing because of the "use" of the gun in the commission of a crime. The defendant stated using a firearm for barter was not covered by the statutory meaning of "use". The Supreme Court had found that in a subsection of the statute, firearms could be "used" as objects of commerce rather than as weapons, implying that a similar understanding and interpretation of "used" should apply to the disputed sentence. ==See also==