Weapons Convictions for July 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2025 the government reported 822 new weapons convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 25.7 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 2025 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (7%). 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 21.6 percent from levels reported in 2020.
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 July 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of convictions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons convictions in July 2025 was ATF accounting for 64 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons convictions were: Local (12% ), FBI (10%), DHS (6%), DEA (3%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2025, 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 July 2025, 822 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July 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 July.
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 July 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 670 1 1 1 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 23 3 5 2 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 22 4 3 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 13 5 9 6 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 13 5 8 10 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 11 7 6 8 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 9 8 4 3 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 7 9 10 7 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 4 10 13 19 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 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924. "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 129.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 554 that involves " Smuggling goods from the United States ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 150 percent — was registered for convictions under " Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 111 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 33.1 percent — was " Hobbs Act " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 40.8 percent — was for convictions 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 obtained 294.5 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 Mo, E 2,596 63 1 1 1 More Vermont 1,853 10 2 77 69 More Okla, N 1,733 16 3 64 47 More S Dakota 1,722 13 4 34 41 More Okla, W 1,527 28 5 16 41 More Iowa, N 1,262 14 6 40 28 More Iowa, S 1,024 16 7 40 24 More N Mexico 1,022 18 8 21 19 More N Car, W 940 27 9 37 13 More Montana 847 8 10 37 32 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) — with 2596 convictions as compared with 294.5 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2025. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Vermont ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), now ranked 5th , and New Mexico at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 21st one year ago and 41st and 19th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons convictions compared to one year ago — 121.4 percent — was Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 152.9 percent — was Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons convictions — 26.6 percent — was New Mexico . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 17.5 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 resulting in convictions of this type during July 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Clark, Stephen Robert, Sr. Mo, E 9 1 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 9 1 More Bell, Kenneth Davis, Sr. N Car, W 9 1 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 9 1 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 8 5 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 8 5 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 8 5 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 7 8 More Frizzell, Gregory Kent Okla, N 7 8 More DeGiusti, Timothy D. Okla, W 7 8 More Delgado-Colon, Aida M. Puer Rico 7 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 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 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Stephen Robert Clark, Sr. in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville), Kenneth Davis Bell, Sr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) and Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 9 convicted in weapons convictions.
Report Generated: September 25, 2025
