Weapons Prosecutions for August 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2012 the government reported 571 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 13.7% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with weapons-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)
When monthly 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (2.8 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 15 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in weapons prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of weapons prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Within the broad category of weapons, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within weapons are
Armed Career Criminal Act
Firearms/Triggerlock
Other Operation Triggerlock Prosecutions
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in August 2012 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in August 2012 was ATF accounting for 77 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (7% ), DHS (5%), Local (4%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2012, 78 defendants in weapons cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving the "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 82.1 percent of all magistrate filings in August.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In August 2012, 493 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 69 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during August.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of weapons matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 443 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 35 2 2 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 16 3 6 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 14 4 9 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 10 5 3 6 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 10 5 6 5 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 7 7 8 12 More 18 USC 842 - Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc 6 8 14 16 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 5 9 5 3 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 3 10 - - More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 3 10 12 12 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924. "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 400 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 842 that involves " Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—1000 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Smuggling goods from the United States " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 18.7 percent—was Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts (Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 49.2 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In August 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 219.7 weapons prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of weapons prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 weapons prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alaska 1,051 6 1 76 89 More Kansas 979 23 2 5 12 More Ala, S 872 6 3 31 30 More Tenn, W 772 10 4 16 9 More Tenn, E 716 15 5 8 10 More Penn, E 714 34 6 15 6 More N Car, M 690 16 7 9 28 More Tenn, M 592 11 8 41 35 More N Car, W 530 13 9 25 18 More Fla, N 489 7 10 48 64 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of Alaska—with 1051 prosecutions as compared with 219.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during August 2012.
The District of Kansas ranked 2nd. The District of Kansas was ranked 5 a year ago.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), now ranked 6th , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 16th one year ago and 6th and 9th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago— 53.3 percent—was Alaska . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 187.5 percent—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions— 13.8 percent—was Northern District of Florida (Pensacola). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) showed the largest drop— 32.5 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new weapons crime cases of this type during August 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Joyner, J. Curtis Penn, E 15 1 More Goldsmith, Mark Allan Mich, E 7 2 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 7 2 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 6 4 More Robinson, Julie A. Kansas 6 4 More Mihm, Michael Martin Ill, C 5 6 More Bucklo, Elaine E. Ill, N 5 6 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 5 6 More Reidinger, Martin Karl N Car, W 5 6 More Jordan, Robert Leon Tenn, E 5 6 More Jackson, Raymond Alvin Virg, E 5 6 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 4 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of weapons filings per capita, while the remaining 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge J. Curtis Joyner in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 1st with 15 defendants in weapons cases.
Judges Mark Allan Goldsmith in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) and William M. Skretny in the Western District of New York (Buffalo) ranked 2nd with 7 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: November 19, 2012
