Court Rules Gun Use in Drug Crimes Means Added 5 Years

People convicted of possessing a gun while selling drugs are subject to five-year mandatory minimum sentences on top of most of other sentences, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The question in the case was what Congress meant when it revised a 1968 federal gun control law in 1998 by, among other things, adding a new preface saying the five-year minimum for having or using guns while selling drugs applied “except to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is otherwise provided.”