SCOTUS adopts majority reading of 924(c) mandatory minimum provisions in Abbott

The Supreme Court today handed down its opinion in Abbott v. US, No. 09–479 (S. Ct. Nov. 15, 2010) (available here). The Justices unaniminously (and unsurprisingly) adopted the government's approach to the application of the mandatory minimum gun sentences set forth in 924(c). Here is a key paragraph from the start of Justice Ginsburg's opinion for the Court:

We hold, in accord with the courts below, and in line with the majority of the Courts of Appeals, that a defendant is subject to a mandatory, consecutive sentence for a § 924(c) conviction, and is not spared from that sentence by virtue of receiving a higher mandatory minimum on a different count of conviction.  Under the “except” clause aswe comprehend it, a §924(c) offender is not subject to stacked sentences for violating §924(c).  If he possessed,brandished, and discharged a gun, the mandatory penalty would be 10 years, not 22.  He is, however, subject to the highest mandatory minimum specified for his conduct in §924(c), unless another provision of law directed to conduct proscribed by §924(c) imposes an even greater mandatory minimum.