Weapons Convictions for July 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2018 the government reported 781 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 20.3 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 2018 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (16.4%). 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 27.1 percent from levels reported in 2013.
The increase 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 2018 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in July 2018 was ATF accounting for 69 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (11% ), Local (9%), DHS (6%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2018, 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 2018, 780 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 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 629 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 47 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 20 3 3 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 15 4 4 4 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 12 5 5 6 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 11 6 7 5 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 7 7 11 12 More 18 USC 3665 - Firearms possessed by convicted felons 7 7 15 20 More 18 USC 2 - Aiding and Abetting 6 9 21 20 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 5 10 9 8 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 3 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 300 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2 that involves " Aiding and Abetting ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 550 percent — was registered for convictions under " Firearms possessed by convicted felons " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 3665 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 3.9 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 — 41.6 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 289.7 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 Iowa, S 1,925 29 1 37 39 More Mo, E 1,556 38 2 1 23 More Ala, N 1,297 31 3 15 12 More Montana 1,151 10 4 25 74 More Utah 905 23 5 18 28 More Nebraska 881 14 6 67 57 More Ala, S 853 6 7 31 40 More Tenn, W 841 11 8 14 7 More Ala, M 834 8 9 60 82 More Alaska 833 5 10 62 74 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines) — with 1925 convictions as compared with 289.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2018.
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 Alabama (Birmingham) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 8th , and Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 15th one year ago and 7th and 12th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 127.8 percent — was Nebraska . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 284.6 percent — was Montana .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions — 2.2 percent — was Southern District of Alabama (Mobile). But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — 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 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Rose, Stephanie Marie Iowa, S 10 1 More Cain, Timothy Martin S Car 10 1 More McBryde, John H. Texas, N 10 1 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 10 1 More Coogler, L. Scott Ala, N 9 5 More DeGuilio, Jon Ernest Ind, N 9 5 More Crabtree, Daniel Dale Kansas 9 5 More Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 8 8 More Jarvey, John Alfred Iowa, S 8 8 More Ebinger, Rebecca Goodgame Iowa, S 8 8 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 8 8 More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 8 8 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 8 8 More Harwell, Robert Bryan S Car 8 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Stephanie Marie Rose in the Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines), Timothy Martin Cain in the District of South Carolina, John H. McBryde in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) and Reed Charles O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 10 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: August 23, 2018
