In United States v. Trumbull, --- F.4th ---, No. 23-912 (9th Cir. 2024), the Court affirmed a sentence imposed on Derek Steven Trumbull following his guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Trumbull challenged the district court’s calculation of his Guidelines range—specifically, the increase of his offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B) on the ground that the offense involved a semiautomatic firearm that is capable of accepting a large capacity magazine.
Section 2K2.1 does not define a “semiautomatic firearm that is capable of accepting a large capacity magazine." Instead, the definition is found in the an application note and turns on whether the magazine can accept more than 15 rounds.
Trumbull attacked Application Note 2 on its face as an invalid interpretation of § 2K2.1 under Kisor v. Wilkie, 588 U.S. 558 (2019).
The Ninth Circuit rejected his argument, concluding that Application Note 2’s definition of “large capacity magazine” warrants deference under Kisor because: (1) the term “large capacity magazine” is ambiguous within the meaning of Kisor because of the relative nature of the word large; (2) Application Note 2 is a reasonable interpretation of “large capacity magazine”; and (3) Application Note 2 meets the three “especially important markers for identifying” when deference is appropriate in that (a) Application Note 2 is the Sentencing Commission’s official position, (b) the interpretation implicates the agency’s substantive expertise, and (c) Application Note 2 was an exercise of the Commission’s fair and considered judgment.
