Weapons Prosecutions for August 2017

Number Latest Month 784
Percent Change from previous month 19.0
Percent Change from 1 year ago 13.2
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
15.0
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
10.2
Table 1. Criminal Weapons Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2017 the government reported 784 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 19 percent 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (13.2%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 15 percent from levels reported in 2012.

The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in weapons prosecutions is 10.2 percent instead of 15 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Weapons Prosecutions

The increase 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 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in August 2017 was ATF accounting for 66 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (13% ), Local (8%), DHS (6%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Prosecutions by Investigative Agency

Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In August 2017, 133 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 "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 88.7 percent of all magistrate filings in August.

Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In August 2017, 651 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during August there were an additional 101 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 2017.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 597 1 1 1 More
18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 35 2 2 2 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 33 3 4 5 More
18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 26 4 3 3 More
18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 12 5 7 7 More
26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 8 7 6 8 More
21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 8 9 4 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 9 13 6 More
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 3 10 21 17 More
18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 3 10 10 9 More
18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 3 10 13 14 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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 233.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 that involves " Reentry of deported alien ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1450 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 200 percent — was " " ( ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 71.1 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In August 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 280.8 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  
Ala, S 1,851 13 1 27 35 More
Vermont 1,342 7 2 91 88 More
Ill, S 1,324 14 3 67 45 More
Mo, E 1,226 30 4 1 21 More
N Car, W 1,176 31 5 30 25 More
Alaska 1,173 7 6 58 58 More
Mo, W 1,068 28 7 3 9 More
Tenn, E 1,020 22 8 14 5 More
Iowa, N 903 10 9 40 60 More
Nevada 830 20 10 38 28 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 1851 prosecutions as compared with 280.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during August 2017.

  • The District of Vermont ranked 2nd.

  • Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville), now ranked 8th , and Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 27th one year ago and 5th and 35th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 550 percent — was Vermont . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 181.4 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 5.7 percent — was Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro).  But over the past five years, Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) showed the largest drop — 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 2017 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 11 1 More
Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 9 2 More
Martinez, William Joseph Colorado 8 3 More
Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 8 3 More
Reidinger, Martin Karl N Car, W 8 3 More
Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 8 3 More
Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 7 7 More
Voorhees, Richard Lesley N Car, W 7 7 More
Miller, Robert Lowell, Jr. Ind, N 6 9 More
White, Ronnie Lee Mo, E 6 9 More
Fenner, Gary A. Mo, W 6 9 More
Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 6 9 More
Cain, Timothy Martin S Car 6 9 More
Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 6 9 More
Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 6 9 More
Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 6 9 More
Crawford, Geoffrey William Vermont 6 9 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 9 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge L. Scott Coogler in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) ranked 1st with 11 defendants in weapons cases.

  • Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in weapons cases.

  • Judges William Joseph Martinez in the District of Colorado, Robert James Conrad, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville), Martin Karl Reidinger in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) and Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 3rd with 8 defendants in weapons cases.

Report Generated: September 19, 2017
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