Weapons Prosecutions for February 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2024 the government reported 613 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 14.6 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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-16.7%). 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 34.1 percent from levels reported in 2019.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Weapons Prosecutions
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 February 2024 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in February 2024 was ATF accounting for 61 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (15% ), DHS (8%), Local (7%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2024, 115 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 83.5 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States" (7%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2024, 498 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 100 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 February.
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 February 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 495 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 15 3 3 4 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 10 4 6 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 9 5 5 7 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 8 6 4 8 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 6 7 6 2 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 5 8 9 6 More 18 USC 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant 2 9 - - More 18 USC 2114 - Mail, money, or other property of United States 2 9 21 18 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 "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section. "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 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 18 U.S.C Section 2114 that involves " Mail, money, or other property of United States ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 50 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 29.4 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 prosecutions — 81.5 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 215.3 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 Iowa, N 1,442 16 1 23 21 More D. C. 1,250 7 2 43 45 More W Virg, N 1,168 9 3 73 69 More Mo, E 1,071 26 4 1 1 More Montana 1,069 10 5 35 58 More Okla, W 935 17 6 14 50 More Okla, E 812 5 7 87 76 More Ala, M 806 8 8 27 56 More S Dakota 669 5 9 33 51 More Mo, W 625 17 10 10 2 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) — with 1442 prosecutions as compared with 215.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during February 2024.
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), now ranked 6th , and Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 23rd one year ago and 50th and 21st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 157.1 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 94.6 percent — was Montana .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 30.6 percent — was South Dakota . But over the past five years, Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) showed the largest drop — 53.4 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 February 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Cohen, Mark Howard Ga, N 7 1 More Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Mo, W 7 1 More Boyle, Terrence William N Car, E 6 3 More Marks, Emily Coody Ala, M 5 4 More Logan, Steven P. Arizona 5 4 More Treadwell, Marc Thomas Ga, M 5 4 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 5 4 More Clark, Stephen Robert, Sr. Mo, E 5 4 More Goodwin, Charles Barnes Okla, W 5 4 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 5 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 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 5 judges were from other districts.
Judges Mark Howard Cohen in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) and Mary Elizabeth Phillips in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 1st with 7 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Terrence William Boyle in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: April 3, 2024
