Weapons Prosecutions for January 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2025 the government reported 473 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.2 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 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-4%). 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 34.4 percent from levels reported in 2020.
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 January 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in January 2025 was ATF accounting for 62 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (14% ), Local (9%), DHS (7%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2025, 100 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 68 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (11%), "18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States" (6%), "21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (5%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2025, 373 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 73 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 January.
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 January 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 378 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1952 - Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport 7 3 - - More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 6 4 6 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 6 4 7 6 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 5 6 5 7 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 5 6 4 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 5 6 3 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 9 8 9 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 2 10 - - More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 2 10 14 11 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 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Racketeering -interstate/foreign travel/transport" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1952.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 120 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113 that involves " Bank robbery and incidental crimes ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 52.9 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 80.9 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 75.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 159.8 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, M 1,405 14 1 26 51 More Ala, S 1,243 9 2 45 42 More Iowa, N 1,172 13 3 16 25 More W Virg, N 1,166 9 4 37 73 More Mo, E 948 23 5 1 1 More Vermont 927 5 6 63 82 More D. C. 884 5 7 31 34 More Iowa, S 768 12 8 37 15 More Montana 742 7 9 13 49 More Fla, N 667 11 10 57 63 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) — with 1405 prosecutions as compared with 159.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2025.
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Montana , now ranked 9th , and Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 16th one year ago and 49th and 25th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 83.3 percent — was Northern District of Florida (Pensacola). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 62.5 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 prosecutions — 32.6 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). But over the past five years, Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines) showed the largest drop — 50 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 January 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 7 1 More Wilson, Billy Roy Ark, E 5 2 More Wetherell, T. Kent, II Fla, N 5 2 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 5 2 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 4 5 More Corker, Clifton Leland Tenn, E 4 5 More Gleason, Sharon Louise Alaska 3 7 More Rodgers, Margaret Catharine Fla, N 3 7 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 3 7 More Hale, David Jason Ken, W 3 7 More Clark, Stephen Robert, Sr. Mo, E 3 7 More Bough, Stephen Rogers Mo, W 3 7 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 3 7 More Whitney, Frank DeArmon N Car, W 3 7 More Kernodle, Jeremy Daniel Texas, E 3 7 More Means, Terry R. Texas, N 3 7 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 3 7 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 3 7 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 3 7 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 3 7 More Adelman, Lynn S. Wisc, E 3 7 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 6 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 15 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 21 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Myron Herbert Thompson in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) ranked 1st with 7 defendants in weapons cases.
Judges Billy Roy Wilson in the Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), T. Kent Wetherell, II in the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola) and John Andrew Ross in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: March 12, 2025
