Federal weapons convictions are very serious and can come with considerable prison sentences. The good news is that these convictions are on the decline. The reason for the decline isn’t noted, but it can be assumed that either these crimes are actually less prevalent than they were in their heyday or defendants are providing adequate defenses when they are charged with federal weapons crimes.
When considering data available from 1995 through 2015, 2005 and 2006 were the two years that had the majority of federal weapons convictions, as the conviction rate hovered around 9,000 for each year. In 2015, that number went down to around 6,000. That figure is still higher than it was in 1995 when there were around 4,000 convictions.
While there are still more federal weapons convictions now than there were 20 years ago, the change within the last 10 years is a move in the right direction. From 2005 to 2015, federal weapons convictions have gone down by 34.8 percent.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the agency that investigates the majority of the cases that lead to federal weapons convictions. All together, other agencies accounted for only 31 percent of the investigations involving federal weapons violations.
If you are facing federal weapons charges, you should begin working on your defense right away. Exploring every possible defense option and learning how each would work for your case can help you to decide how you want to move forward with your defense. Once you know your options, you can begin building your defense in preparation for trial.
Source: Syracuse University TracReports, “Ten Year Decline in Federal Weapons Convictions,” accessed Dec. 04, 2015
