Weapons Convictions for January 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 599 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 2.7 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 2026 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly up (1.9%). 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 8.2 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 January 2026 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in January 2026 was ATF accounting for 68 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: FBI (11% ), Local (8%), DHS (7%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2026, no defendants in weapons cases for these matters were convicted 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.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2026, 599 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January 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 January.
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 January 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 502 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 19 3 3 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 7 4 4 3 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 7 4 9 11 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 5 6 5 2 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 5 6 7 7 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 8 6 6 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 3 9 10 9 More 18 USC 113 - Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions 2 10 23 - 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 "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 convictions — up 150 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 113 that involves " Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 161.7 percent — was registered for convictions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 45.9 percent — was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 75 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 211.3 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 Montana 1,794 17 1 31 25 More Mo, E 1,229 30 2 1 2 More Wyoming 1,225 6 3 83 65 More S Dakota 1,053 8 4 26 28 More Okla, E 959 6 5 52 86 More La, E 874 12 6 45 80 More Okla, N 856 8 7 61 55 More Ala, S 821 6 8 29 42 More Iowa, N 717 8 9 16 19 More W Virg, N 645 5 10 38 78 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Montana — with 1794 convictions as compared with 211.3 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2026.
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Wyoming is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids), now ranked 9th , and South Dakota at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 26th one year ago and 19th and 28th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 78.3 percent — was Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 216.7 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 — 28.1 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee). But over the past five years, Wyoming showed the largest drop — 33.3 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 resulting in convictions of this type during January 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Bell, Kenneth Davis, Sr. N Car, W 9 1 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 7 2 More Clark, Stephen Robert, Sr. Mo, E 6 3 More Velez-Rive, Camille L. Puer Rico 6 3 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 5 5 More Osteen, William Lindsay, Jr. N Car, M 5 5 More Eagles, Catherine Caldwell N Car, M 5 5 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 5 5 More Proctor, R. David Ala, N 4 9 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 4 9 More Ebinger, Rebecca Goodgame Iowa, S 4 9 More Morris, Brian Matthew Montana 4 9 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 4 9 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 4 9 More Chambers, Robert Charles W Virg, S 4 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 3 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 12 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Kenneth Davis Bell, Sr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 1st with 9 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 2nd with 7 convicted in weapons convictions.
Judges Stephen Robert Clark, Sr. in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) and Camille L. Velez-Rive in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 3rd with 6 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
