Weapons Convictions for December 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2017 the government reported 520 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.1 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for 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 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (13.8%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 5.8 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The leveling out from the levels five years ago in weapons convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of weapons convictions 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 convictions of these matters in December 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in December 2017 was ATF accounting for 71 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (9% ), Local (9%), DHS (4%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2017, no 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.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2017, 519 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 0 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of weapons matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 445 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 18 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 10 3 4 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 9 4 3 4 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 6 5 13 18 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 6 9 8 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 4 6 9 11 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 4 6 7 6 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 4 6 5 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 10 6 7 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951. "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 171.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962 that involves " RICO - prohibited activities ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 533.3 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 17.3 percent — was " Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 51.2 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2017 the Justice Department said the government obtained 192.7 weapons convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of weapons convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 weapons convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago N Car, M 935 23 1 7 10 More Mo, E 860 21 2 1 17 More Iowa, N 814 9 3 29 41 More Mo, W 797 21 4 3 7 More W Virg, N 775 6 5 63 69 More Tenn, W 688 9 6 20 5 More N. Y., S 617 27 7 42 48 More Tenn, E 599 13 8 6 8 More Montana 576 5 9 32 61 More N Car, W 561 15 10 21 37 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) — with 935 convictions as compared with 192.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2017. The Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 10 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 1 a year ago.
Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 6th , and Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 20th and 21st one year ago and 5th and 37th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 300 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 300 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions — 26.2 percent — was Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids). But over the past five years, Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) showed the largest drop — 12.9 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 resulting in convictions of this type during December 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 7 1 More Hendricks, Bruce Howe S Car 7 1 More Tilley, Norwood Carlton, Jr. N Car, M 6 3 More Kaplan, Lewis A. N. Y., S 6 3 More Greer, J. Ronnie Tenn, E 6 3 More Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 6 3 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 5 7 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 5 7 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 5 7 More Reidinger, Martin Karl N Car, W 5 7 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 5 7 More McKibben, Howard D. Nevada 5 7 More Fitzwater, Sidney Allen Texas, N 5 7 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of weapons convictions per capita, while the remaining 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Linda R. Reade in the Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) and Bruce Howe Hendricks in the District of South Carolina ranked 1st with 7 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judges Norwood Carlton Tilley, Jr. in the Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro), Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), J. Ronnie Greer in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) and Orlando Luis Garcia in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 6 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: January 24, 2018
