Weapons Convictions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 632 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 15.8% 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 2012 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (6.2 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 15.9 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The decrease 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 July 2012 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in July 2012 was ATF accounting for 79 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (7% ), DHS (6%), Local (4%), DEA (1%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 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 July 2012, 632 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July 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 July.
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 July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 501 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 34 2 2 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 19 3 4 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 15 4 5 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 14 5 3 7 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 13 6 11 - More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 9 7 6 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 8 7 6 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 4 8 8 8 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 3 10 18 - 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 "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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 320 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 that involves " Smuggling goods from the United States ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—128.6 percent—was registered for convictions under " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 23.3 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— 63.6 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2012 the Justice Department said the government obtained 247 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 Ala, S 1,745 12 1 51 66 More N Car, E 1,116 34 2 6 13 More N Dakota 1,113 6 3 86 71 More Tenn, W 1,081 14 4 4 19 More Ill, S 942 10 5 42 66 More N Car, M 820 19 6 5 11 More Okla, E 820 5 6 76 92 More N Mexico 776 13 8 19 30 More Okla, N 714 6 9 58 73 More Iowa, S 704 10 10 40 69 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile)—with 1745 convictions as compared with 247 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2012.
The Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) was ranked 6 a year ago.
District of North Dakota is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were New Mexico , now ranked 8th , and Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 19th and 40th one year ago and 30th and 69th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago— 166.7 percent—was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 160 percent—was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions— 24.2 percent—was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). But over the past five years, North Dakota showed the largest drop— 31.8 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 July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 12 1 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 10 2 More Beaty, James A., Jr. N Car, M 9 3 More Gwin, James S. Ohio, N 9 3 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 9 3 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 8 6 More Breen, J. Daniel Tenn, W 7 7 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 7 7 More Moses, Alia Texas, W 7 7 More Steele, William H. Ala, S 6 10 More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 6 10 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 6 10 More Greer, J. Ronnie Tenn, E 6 10 More Smith, Walter Scott, Jr. Texas, W 6 10 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 6 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Louise W. Flanagan in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 1st with 12 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judge James C. Dever, III in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd with 10 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judges James A. Beaty, Jr. in the Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro), James S. Gwin in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) and Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 9 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
