Weapons Prosecutions for June 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2025 the government reported 563 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 15.8 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 (-2.3%). 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 2.6 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 June 2025 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in June 2025 was ATF accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (18% ), Local (8%), DHS (8%), DEA (3%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2025, 103 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 81.6 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "Other US Code Section" (5.8%).
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2025, 460 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 106 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 June.
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 June 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 453 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 20 3 3 6 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 12 4 4 2 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 12 4 7 7 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 9 6 6 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 5 7 5 8 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 4 8 8 9 More 18 USC 545 - Smuggling goods into the United States 3 9 30 - More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 10 10 10 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 2 10 - 21 More 18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes 2 10 14 11 More 26 USC 5841 - Registration of firearms 2 10 22 13 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 "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 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 400 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 545 that involves " Smuggling goods into the United States ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 200 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " RICO - prohibited activities " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1962 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 50.7 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 — 50 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In June 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 202.8 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, S 1,795 13 1 47 48 More W Virg, N 1,685 13 2 47 66 More Iowa, N 1,623 18 3 14 16 More D. C. 1,591 9 4 31 45 More Miss, N 1,210 11 5 83 81 More Ala, M 1,204 12 6 58 36 More Montana 1,059 10 7 11 32 More Mo, E 948 23 8 1 1 More Okla, N 758 7 9 51 72 More Tenn, W 541 7 10 47 15 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 1795 prosecutions as compared with 202.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2025.
The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Montana , now ranked 7th , and Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 14th one year ago and 32nd and 16th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 128.6 percent — was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 140 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 — 33.7 percent — was Montana . But over the past five years, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) showed the largest drop — 30.9 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 June 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Ellison, Keith P. Texas, S 15 1 More Crews, S. Kato Colorado 9 2 More Aloi, Michael John W Virg, N 7 3 More Brown, Debra Marie Miss, N 6 4 More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 4 5 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 4 5 More Autrey, Henry Edward Mo, E 4 5 More Biery, Samuel Frederick, Jr. Texas, W 4 5 More Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 3 9 More Walker, Linda T. Ga, N 3 9 More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 3 9 More Caldwell, Karen K. Ken, E 3 9 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 3 9 More Leitman, Matthew Frederick Mich, E 3 9 More Schultz, David T. Minnesota 3 9 More Mills, Michael P. Miss, N 3 9 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 3 9 More Rush, David P. Mo, W 3 9 More Horan, Marilyn Jean Penn, W 3 9 More Fowlkes, John Thomas, Jr. Tenn, W 3 9 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 3 9 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 3 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 22 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Keith P. Ellison in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 15 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge S. Kato Crews in the District of Colorado ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Michael John Aloi in the Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: July 29, 2025
