In the Supreme Court of the United States In the Supreme Court of ...

cause physical injury. Unlike Chambers v. United States, where this Court held that failing to
report to prison is not a violent felony merely because the felon might be doing something that
poses a risk of injury to others, 555 U.S. at 128, possession of an unregistered sawed-off
shotgun poses a continuous risk of injury because an officer can show up at any minute.
In Begay, this Court stressed the importance of identifying offenses that not only reveal
callousness toward risk, but also show an increased likelihood that the offender is the kind of
person who might deliberately harm another. 553 U.S. at 146, 148. The NFA was purposefully
limited to a “narrow category of weapons such as submachineguns (sic) and sawed-off
shotguns.” Staples, 511 U.S. at 626 (1994) (Stevens, J., dissenting). These were the weapons
characteristically used only by professional gangsters like Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, and
their henchman. Id. Congress could therefore, “reasonably presume that a person in possession
of an unregistered machinegun or sawed-off shotgun intended to use it for criminal purposes.”
NFA Hearing at 113 (noting that by including only machine guns and sawed-off shotguns,
“Congress will have done all that can be done to assist the States in the suppression of
felonies.”). Sawed-off shotguns are indicative of future violent crimes, as the hearing suggests,
and possession of a sawed-off shotgun is the kind of risk Begay stresses should be a “violent
felony” under the ACCA. Begay, 553 U.S. at 1587. Indeed, it is this type of crime that “is
characteristic of the armed career criminal.” Sykes, 131 S. Ct. at 2289.
Similarly, Congress determined that possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun is
so grievous it is also considered an “aggravated felony” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (2006 & Supp.
2012) (incorporating by reference 26 U.S.C § 5861). Other offenses in this provision include
murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, robbery, and other crimes of violence. Id. The aggravated
status of these crimes provides for the expedited removal of aliens. 8 U.S.C. § 1228 (2006). The
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