Weapons Prosecutions for July 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2018 the government reported 746 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 24.2 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (23%). 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 45.4 percent from levels reported in 2013.
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 July 2018 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in July 2018 was ATF accounting for 65 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (12% ), Local (11%), DHS (5%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2018, 129 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 75.2 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act" (7%), "18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States" (5.4%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2018, 617 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 98 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 prosecutions of weapons matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 602 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 31 2 2 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 18 3 4 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 13 5 3 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 6 6 5 6 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 7 7 8 More 22 USC 2778 - Control of arms exports and imports 4 7 20 16 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 3 9 10 14 More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 2 10 17 12 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 2 10 6 4 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 661.9 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 750 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Carjacking " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2119 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 40.7 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 — 58.3 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 265.5 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 3,411 24 1 31 23 More Tenn, W 2,523 33 2 11 13 More Ark, E 1,976 27 3 34 49 More Mo, E 1,884 46 4 2 9 More Ala, M 1,251 12 5 36 90 More Wyoming 1,025 5 6 53 62 More Iowa, N 995 11 7 39 53 More D. C. 881 5 8 68 56 More Ala, N 879 21 9 12 26 More La, M 862 6 10 49 77 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 3411 prosecutions as compared with 265.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2018.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 2nd , and Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 12th one year ago and 13th and 26th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 148.8 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 1600 percent — was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 60 percent — was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 33.3 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 July 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 11 1 More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 10 2 More Strand, Leonard T. Iowa, N 9 3 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 9 3 More Kallon, Abdul Karim Ala, N 8 5 More Granade, Callie V. Ala, S 8 5 More Moody, James Maxwell, Jr. Ark, E 8 5 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 8 5 More Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 7 9 More Baker, Kristine Gerhard Ark, E 7 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of weapons filings per capit.
Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 1st with 11 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh, Jr. in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd with 10 defendants in weapons cases.
Judges Leonard T. Strand in the Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) and Rodney W. Sippel in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: August 23, 2018
