United States v. Hemani · ¶61
Section 922(g) criminalizes intrastate gun possession. It makes it a felony for enumerated categories of people to, as relevant here, “possess in or affecting commerce, any frearm or ammunition.” § 922(g). In Scarborough v. United States, 431 U. S. 563 (1977), this Court held that materially identical language required—as a matter of statutory interpretation—only that “the possessed frearm previously traveled in interstate commerce.” Id., at 564, 578. The courts of appeals have interpreted § 922(g)'s “in or affecting commerce” element to likewise require only that same “minimal nexus” to interstate commerce. Rawls, 85 F. 3d, at 242–243 (citing Scarborough, 431 U. S., at 575). In Hemani's indictment, for example, the Government alleged only that the frearm that he possessed had “been shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce” in the past—even though Hemani was indicted…Read in context ›
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