Weapons Prosecutions for March 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2026 the government reported 663 new weapons prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 7.8 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-5.3%). 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 26.2 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 March 2026 was for "Weapons-Operation Triggerlock Major", accounting for 100 percent of prosecutions. See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions in March 2026 was ATF accounting for 59 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of weapons referrals were: FBI (18% ), Local (8%), DHS (6%), DEA (2%). See Figure 3.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2026, 135 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 involving "Firearms; Unlawful acts". This was the lead charge for 81.5 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Weapons Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2026, 528 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 135 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 March.
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 March 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 542 1 1 1 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 19 2 3 5 More 18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act 18 3 4 2 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 15 4 5 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 13 5 6 8 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 12 6 9 7 More 18 USC 933 - Trafficking in firearms 10 7 - - More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 10 7 6 6 More 18 USC 2119 - Carjacking 5 9 8 9 More 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 3 10 17 20 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 "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 5 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951. "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 123.5 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 that involves " Attempt and conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 150 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Reentry of deported alien " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 38.9 percent — was " Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 41.1 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 233.9 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 Tenn, W 2,392 31 1 12 23 More D. C. 2,051 12 2 49 36 More Montana 1,794 17 3 39 34 More S Dakota 1,053 8 4 25 42 More Mo, W 1,013 28 5 6 6 More Ala, M 995 10 6 27 68 More Iowa, N 985 11 7 16 26 More Okla, E 959 6 8 55 89 More Mo, E 942 23 9 1 1 More Ken, E 795 15 10 31 59 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) — with 2392 prosecutions as compared with 233.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2026.
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd.
District of Montana is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 1st , and Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 16th one year ago and 23rd and 26th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of weapons prosecutions compared to one year ago — 105.1 percent — was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 171.4 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of weapons prosecutions — 34.5 percent — was Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) showed the largest drop — 56.8 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 March 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Logan, Steven P. Arizona 10 1 More Norris, Mark Saalfield, Sr. Tenn, W 10 1 More Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 8 3 More Bunning, David L. Ken, E 7 4 More Parker, Thomas Lee Robinson Tenn, W 7 4 More Ketchmark, Roseann Ambrosia Mo, W 6 6 More Albright, Alan D Texas, W 6 6 More Perez-Montes, Joseph H. L. La, W 5 8 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 5 8 More O'Connor, Reed Charles Texas, N 5 8 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 4 judges were from other districts.
Judges Steven P. Logan in the District of Arizona and Mark Saalfield Norris, Sr. in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in weapons cases.
Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 3rd with 8 defendants in weapons cases.
Report Generated: May 21, 2026
