Daniel Clayton Swain pled guilty to possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle. 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) (1994). He appeals the District Court’s application of the sentencing guidelines; specifically, its enhancement of his sentence based on the finding that his prior conviction in 1993 for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (a conviction under Maine’s misdemeanor assault statute, Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 207), had disqualified him from possessing a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) (1994). For the reasons that follow, his sentence is affirmed.

In sentencing Swain, the district court settled on a base offense level of 20 under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B) because the offense involved a firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a), and Swain was a “prohibited person” because his prior Maine assault conviction was a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(33)(A) and 922(g)(9). After a reduction for acceptance of responsibility, Swain was sentenced to twenty-seven months, the minimum of his guideline range, and appeals this sentence.

The Maine statute under which Swain was previously convicted defines misdemeanor assault as “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing] bodily injury or offensive physical contact to another.” Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 207. The federal statute requires that, in order for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to be a sufficient predicate to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm, it must have “as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A)(ii).

Swain’s appeal was heard as part of a consolidated set of appeals challenging whether or not Maine’s misdemeanor assault statute, tit. 17-A, § 207, is a sufficient predicate misdemeanor to sustain a conviction, and therefore an indictment, under the federal statute making it a crime for a person previously convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) (1994). In our Opinion in United States v. Nason, 269 F.3d 10 (1st Cir. 2001) [No. 01-1440], we held that “all convictions under Maine’s general-purpose assault statute, Me.Rev.Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 207(1), necessarily involve, as a formal element, the use of physical force.” Therefore, by pleading guilty to an assault against his wife under the Maine assault statute, Swain necessarily pled guilty to a crime with an element of physical force as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921 (a)(33)(A)(ii). As a result, the district court was correct to find that Swain was a “prohibited person” under Sentencing Guideline § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B) when it sentenced him for illegal possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle.1

Affirmed.