by the United States Supreme Court

“ It is one thing to say that the ordinary meaning of "uses a firearm" includes using a firearm as a weapon, since that is the intended purpose of a firearm and the example of "use" that most immediately comes to mind. But it is quite another to conclude that, as a result, the phrase also excludes any other use. ”

“ No court of appeals ever has held that using a gun to pistol-whip a victim is anything but the "use" of a firearm; nor has any court ever held that trading a firearm for drugs falls short of being the "use" thereof. But cf. Phelps, 877 F. 2d, at 30 (holding that trading a gun for drugs is not use "in relation to" a drug trafficking offense) . ”

“ In essence, petitioner argues that he cannot be said to have "use [d] " a firearm unless he used it as a weapon, since that is how firearms most often are used. See 957 F. 2d, at 837 (firearm often facilitates drug offenses by protecting drugs or protecting or emboldening the defendant) . Of course, § 924 (c) (1) is not limited to those cases in which a gun is used; it applies with equal force whenever a gun is "carrie [d] ." In this case, however, the indictment alleged only that petitioner "use [d] " the MAC-10. ”

“ Because making a material misstatement in order to acquire or sell a gun is not "use" of the gun even under the broadest definition of the word "use," Congress carefully expanded the statutory language. As a result, a gun with respect to which a material misstatement is made is subject to forfeiture because, even though the gun is not "used" in the offense, it is "involved in" it. Congress, however, did not so expand the language for offenses in which firearms were "intended to be used," even though the firearms in many of those offenses function as items of commerce rather than as weapons. ”

“ Smith's handling of his gun falls squarely within the everyday meaning and dictionary definitions of "use." Had Congress intended § 924 (c) (1) to require proof that the defendant not only used his firearm but used it in a specific manner-as a weapon-it could have so indicated in the statute. However, Congress did not. The fact that the most familiar example of "us [ing] ... a firearm" is "use" as a weapon does not mean that the phrase excludes all other ways in which a firearm might be used. ”

“ The dissent's contention therefore cannot be that the defendant must use the firearm "as a weapon," but rather that he must fire it or threaten to fire it, "as a gun." Under the dissent's approach, then, even the criminal who pistol-whips his victim has not used a firearm within the meaning of § 924 (c) (1) , for firearms are intended to be fired or brandished, not used as bludgeons. It appears that the dissent similarly would limit the scope of the "othe [r] use [s] " covered by USSG § 2B3.1 (b) (2) (B) . The universal view of the courts of appeals, however, is directly to the contrary. ”

“ Hoag agreed to, and in fact did, purchase cocaine for petitioner. She then accompanied petitioner and his friend to her motel room, where they were joined by a drug dealer. While Hoag listened, petitioner and the dealer discussed petitioner's MAC-10 firearm, which had been modified to operate as an automatic. The MAC-10 apparently is a favorite among criminals. It is small and compact, lightweight, and can be equipped with a silencer. Most important of all, it can be devastating: A fully automatic MAC-10 can fire more than 1,000 rounds per minute. ”

“ The Court is confident that "scratching one's head" with a firearm is not "more than" brandishing it. See ante, at 233. I certainly agree-but only because the "more" use referred to is more use as a weapon. Reading the Guidelines as they are written (rather than importing the Court's deus ex machina of a culpability scale) , and interpreting "use a firearm" in the strange fashion the Court does, produces, see ante, at 232, a full sevenpoint upward sentence adjustment for firing a gun at a storekeeper during a robbery ”

“ Whether guns are used as the medium of exchange for drugs sold illegally or as a means to protect the transaction or dealers, their introduction into the scene of drug transactions dramatically heightens the danger to society. ”

“ Statutory construction ... is a holistic endeavor. A provision that may seem ambiguous in isolation is often clarified by the remainder of the statutory scheme-because the same terminology is used elsewhere in a context that makes its meaning clear, or because only one of the permissible meanings produces a substantive effect that is compatible with the rest of the law. ”

“ Though it excludes an enhanced penalty for the burglar who scratches his head with the barrel of a gun, it requires one for the burglar who happens to use a gun handle, rather than a rock, to break the window affording him entrance-hardly a distinction that ought to make a sentencing difference if the gun has no other connection to the crime. ”

“ See infra, at 238 (phrase "in relation to" requires, at a minimum, that the use facilitate the crime) . Such a defendant would escape the six-point enhancement provided in USSG § 2B3.1 (b) (2) (B) as well. As the Guidelines definition of " [o] therwise use [d] " makes clear, see USSG § 1B1.1, comment., n. 1 (g) , the six-point enhancement does not apply unless the use is "more than" brandishing. While pistol-whipping a victim with a firearm might be "more than" brandishing, scratching one's head is not. ”

“ In the search for statutory meaning, we give nontechnical words and phrases their ordinary meaning. See Chapman v. United States, 500 U. S. 453, 462 (1991) ; Perrin v. United States, 444 U. S. 37, 42 (1979) ”