Weapons Prosecutions for March 2013
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2013 the government reported 660 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 30.7% 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 2013 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-14 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 18.2 percent from levels reported in 2008.
The decrease 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 March 2013 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in March 2013 was ATF accounting for 71 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (9% ), DHS (5%), Local (5%), DEA (3%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2013, 117 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving the "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 76.1 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act" (11.1%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2013, 543 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 82 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 March.
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 March 2013.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 534 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 33 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 16 3 3 5 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 14 4 5 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 5 5 4 26 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 5 5 6 3 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 4 7 11 7 More 18 USC 2 - Aiding and Abetting 1 8 21 17 More 18 USC 4 - Misprision of Felony 1 8 16 26 More 18 USC 751 - Escape - Prisoners in custody 1 8 26 22 More 18 USC 842 - Explosives - Importation, manufacture, etc 1 8 9 11 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 1 8 11 19 More 18 USC 931 - Prohibition on purchase,ownership,possession of body armor by felons 1 8 16 26 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 1 8 16 26 More 18 USC 1922 - False or withheld report - Fed employee's comp 1 8 - - More 18 USC 1958 - Interstate commerce facilities - murder for hire 1 8 - - More 18 USC 3565 - Revocation of probation 1 8 - 26 More 18 USC 3582 - Imposition of a Sentence of Imprisonment 1 8 - - More 18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 1 8 21 26 More 21 USC 860 - Distribution or manufacturing in or near schools a 1 8 - - More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 1 8 16 15 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 "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 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 200 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 26 U.S.C Section 5841 that involves " Registration of firearms ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—1900 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Smuggling goods from the United States " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 73.7 percent—was Smuggling goods from the United States (Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 61.5 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Bank robbery and incidental crimes " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2013 the Justice Department said the government brought 244.3 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 Wyoming 1,323 6 1 74 66 More Tenn, W 1,236 16 2 20 6 More Mo, W 1,170 30 3 8 11 More Ga, S 985 12 4 24 19 More Wash, E 897 11 5 39 53 More Alaska 876 5 6 84 85 More Tenn, E 860 18 7 8 27 More Ill, S 848 9 8 36 67 More N Car, M 820 19 9 11 32 More Kansas 809 19 10 3 30 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The District of Wyoming—with 1323 prosecutions as compared with 244.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during March 2013.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd.
Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) is now ranking 3rd. The Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) was ranked 8 a year ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro), now ranked 9th , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 20th one year ago and 32nd and 6th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago— 60 percent—was Alaska . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 116.3 percent—was Kansas .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions— 19.2 percent—was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 35.4 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 March 2013 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 23 1 86 - More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 11 2 40 1 More Sparks, Sam Texas, W 9 3 30 94 More Smith, G. R. Ga, S 8 4 72 166 More Robinson, Julie A. Kansas 8 4 22 166 More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 8 4 62 56 More Quackenbush, Justin Lowe Wash, E 8 4 266 465 More Aiken, Ann L. Oregon 7 8 547 465 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 6 9 - - More Graham, Donald L. Fla, S 5 10 47 364 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 5 10 547 592 More Lawson, Hugh Ga, M 5 10 47 226 More Murphy, G. Patrick Ill, S 5 10 102 282 More Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 5 10 47 56 More Melgren, Eric F. Kansas 5 10 47 - More Cohn, Avern Levin Mich, E 5 10 341 - More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 5 10 7 11 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 5 10 86 592 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 5 10 102 364 More Table 4: Top 10 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 filings per capita, while the remaining 12 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 19 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge David Gregory Kays in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 1st with 23 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Louise W. Flanagan in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd with 11 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Sam Sparks in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: May 9, 2013
