Oregon v. Ziska
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The issue presented in these two consolidated cases centered on the meaning of the term "use" in ORS 166.220(1)(a): "a person commits the crime of unlawful use of a weapon if he or she '[a]ttempts to use unlawfully against another, or carries or possesses with intent to use unlawfully against another, any dangerous or deadly weapon.'" Defendants contend that the statute applied only when a person carries or possesses a weapon with the intent to "use" the weapon by actually employing it to injure another. The state argued that the statute also applied when a person carries or possesses a weapon with intent to "use" it to threaten or menace another unlawfully, without necessarily intending to injure the other person. The trial courts agreed with the state, as did the Court of Appeals. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed.
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