Courts: The justices decide,5-4, that the weapon doesn't have to be ready
for use, merely present. Thousands will be affected.

The Supreme Court on Monday handed a 5-4 victory to federal prosecutors by
broadly interpreting a federal law that adds five years to the prison term
of a defendant who "carries a firearm" while trafficking in drugs.

Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said the law applies to
traffickers who knowingly transport a gun in a vehicle, even if it is kept
in a locked glove compartment or trunk. In its ordinary sense, the word
"carry" includes conveying something in a car, whether it is "a gun, a
suitcase, or a banana," Breyer said.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia and David Souter
dissented, insisting that carrying a firearm means having it "ready for use
as a weapon."

The decision, which will affect thousands of defendants accused each year
of violating the gun carrying law, was a defeat for Frank Muscarello, a
71-year-old former police chief who had a handgun in the locked glove
compartment of his truck when he delivered eight pounds of marijuana to
federal undercover agents in Louisiana in 1994.