Weapons Prosecutions for July 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2025 the government reported 549 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 8.7 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 (-2.2%). 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 1.7 percent from levels reported in 2020.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Weapons Prosecutions
The leveling out 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 July 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in July 2025 was ATF accounting for 62 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (13% ), Local (11%), DHS (5%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2025, 95 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 80 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (5.3%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2025, 454 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 105 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 July.
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 July 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 463 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 14 3 9 5 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 12 4 3 6 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 8 5 8 8 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 7 6 6 4 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 7 6 4 2 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 3 8 7 7 More 18 USC 113 - Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions 2 9 28 32 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 9 10 10 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 2 9 5 9 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 2 9 17 23 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 3 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 9 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 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 113 that involves " Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 250 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 844 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 55.4 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 prosecutions — 69.5 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt and conspiracy " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 200.3 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 D. C. 2,474 14 1 43 31 More Montana 1,483 14 2 19 25 More Wyoming 1,438 7 3 72 54 More Ala, M 1,405 14 4 48 49 More Tenn, W 1,238 16 5 38 22 More Miss, N 1,100 10 6 78 87 More Mo, E 989 24 7 1 1 More N Mexico 851 15 8 38 19 More Iowa, N 721 8 9 12 13 More Ala, S 690 5 10 52 57 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 2474 prosecutions as compared with 200.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2025.
The District of Montana ranked 2nd.
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 Montana at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 19th one year ago and 13th 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 — 130.8 percent — was Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 328.6 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 29.4 percent — was Wyoming . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 50 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 of this type during July 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Bunning, David L. Ken, E 9 1 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 6 2 More Marks, Emily Coody Ala, M 5 3 More Cogan, Brian Mark N. Y., E 5 3 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 5 3 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 4 6 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 4 6 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 4 6 More Parker, Thomas Lee Robinson Tenn, W 4 6 More Ezra, David Alan Texas, W 4 6 More Ballou, Robert S. Virg, W 4 6 More Skavdahl, Scott Wesley Wyoming 4 6 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge David L. Bunning in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) ranked 1st with 9 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Susan Pamela Watters in the District of Montana ranked 2nd with 6 defendants in weapons cases.
Judges Emily Coody Marks in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery), Brian Mark Cogan in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 3rd with 5 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: September 25, 2025
