Weapons Convictions for October 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2018 the government reported 659 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 14 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 (12.5%). 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 32.2 percent from levels reported in 2013.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Weapons Convictions
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 October 2018 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in October 2018 was ATF accounting for 64 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (14% ), Local (8%), DHS (4%), DEA (3%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2018, 7 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 42.9 percent of all magistrate convictions in October.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2018, 652 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October 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 October.
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 October 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 502 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 39 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 26 3 4 3 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 21 4 3 4 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 14 5 6 6 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 9 7 5 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 5 8 7 8 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 5 8 12 12 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 4 10 10 9 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 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 390 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 4800 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 2.7 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 convictions — 30.2 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In October 2018 the Justice Department said the government obtained 240.2 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 Mo, E 1,639 40 1 3 12 More Tenn, W 1,300 17 2 14 9 More Ala, S 1,136 8 3 21 26 More Okla, N 1,015 9 4 58 65 More Iowa, N 905 10 5 47 63 More Utah 890 23 6 10 29 More N Car, M 885 22 7 11 3 More W Virg, N 777 6 8 50 71 More Tenn, E 733 16 9 9 11 More Ark, E 731 10 10 40 52 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) — with 1639 convictions as compared with 240.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2018. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 3 a year ago.
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro), now ranked 7th , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 14th one year ago and 3rd and 9th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 68.6 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 200 percent — was Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions — 22.9 percent — was Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 43.4 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 resulting in convictions of this type during October 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 11 1 More Preska, Loretta A. N. Y., S 8 2 More Hendricks, Bruce Howe S Car 7 3 More Nuffer, David Ogden Utah 7 3 More Gomez, Curtis V. Virgin Is 7 3 More Royal, C. Ashley Ga, M 6 6 More Webber, E. Richard Mo, E 6 6 More Strand, Leonard T. Iowa, N 5 8 More Perry, Catherine D. Mo, E 5 8 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 5 8 More Gelpi, Gustavo Antonio, Jr. Puer Rico 5 8 More Cain, Timothy Martin S Car 5 8 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 5 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh, Jr. in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 1st with 11 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judge Loretta A. Preska in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 8 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judges Bruce Howe Hendricks in the District of South Carolina, David Ogden Nuffer in the District of Utah and Curtis V. Gomez in the District of Virgin Islands ranked 3rd with 7 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: December 6, 2018
