| Federal Weapons Prosecutions Continue to Climb in 2019 |
| (06 Jun 2019)
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during the first seven months of FY 2019 the government reported 6,526 new weapons prosecutions. This marks the fifth straight year that weapons prosecutions have been rising - up 68.7 percent since FY 2014.
If prosecutions continue at the same pace for the rest of the fiscal year, prosecution numbers should match their previous peak level attained during FY 2004, fifteen years ago.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, two out of every three prosecutions were for the offense of unlawful shipment, transfer, receipt, or possession of a firearm by a felon. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) was the lead investigative agency for 63.5 percent of prosecutions referred. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was second with 13.2 percent, followed by referrals from state and local authorities with 8.9 percent. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked first with the most weapons prosecutions filed (403) and a rate relative to its population size of almost seven times the national average. It was also ranked most active (relative to its population) during FY 2018 as well. The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with weapons-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained after successful litigation by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act. To read the full report, go to: https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/560/ Each month, TRAC offers a report focused on one area of criminal litigation in the U.S. district courts. In addition, subscribers to the TRACFed data service can generate custom reports by district, office, nature of suit or federal jurisdiction with data updated through April 2019. To start, go to: https://trac.syr.edu/interpreter If you want to be sure to receive notification whenever updated data become available, sign up at: https://tracfed.syr.edu/cgi-bin/tracuser.pl?pub=1 or follow us on Twitter @tracreports or like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/tracreports TRAC is self-supporting and depends on foundation grants, individual contributions and subscription fees for the funding needed to obtain, analyze and publish the data we collect on the activities of the US Federal government. To help support TRAC's ongoing efforts, go to: https://trac.syr.edu/cgi-bin/sponsor/sponsor.pl |
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