Weapons Prosecutions for November 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2017 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 9.6 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (16.8%). 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 14.2 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in weapons prosecutions is 9.1 percent instead of 14.2 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
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 November 2017 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in November 2017 was ATF accounting for 64 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (12% ), Local (8%), DHS (7%), DEA (3%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2017, 116 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 November the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 78.4 percent of all magistrate filings in November.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2017, 544 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November there were an additional 104 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 November.
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 November 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 526 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 33 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 26 3 3 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 11 4 13 7 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 11 4 4 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 10 6 7 8 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 8 7 5 6 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 4 9 20 15 More 18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 3 10 9 14 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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 600 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 that involves " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 150 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Term of supervised release after imprisonment " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 3583 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 19.3 percent — was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 24.4 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 240.6 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 2,416 17 1 26 33 More Mo, E 1,515 37 2 3 24 More Tenn, W 1,453 19 3 13 14 More Alaska 1,167 7 4 60 67 More D. C. 1,057 6 5 88 93 More Miss, S 897 14 6 69 62 More W Virg, N 775 6 7 48 67 More Texas, W 761 45 8 2 2 More Ala, M 730 7 9 57 62 More Iowa, N 723 8 10 57 58 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 2416 prosecutions as compared with 240.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2017.
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 3 a year ago.
Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 3rd , and Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 26th one year ago and 14th and 33rd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 280 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 850 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 26.9 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling). 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 of this type during November 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 13 1 More Ezra, David Alan Texas, W 12 2 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 9 3 More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 7 4 More Neff, Janet T. Mich, W 6 5 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 6 5 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 6 5 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 6 5 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 6 5 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 6 5 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 filings per capita, while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts.
Judge Robert A. Junell in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge David Alan Ezra in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge John Thomas Fowlkes, Jr. in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: January 8, 2018
