‘Large Capacity Magazine’ Enhanced Sentence Affirmed on Appeal

The US Sentencing Commission’s commentary in its guidelines, which defines a “large capacity magazine” for purposes of an enhanced sentence as a one capable of accepting more than 15 rounds of ammunition, was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Tuesday.

Affirming that enhancement in the case of Dajuan Martin, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for the first time considered the authoritativeness of the definition under Stinson v. United States, which held that the commission’s commentary is “authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, ...