> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T09:52:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T09:52:02.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 5,707 people were sentenced under §2K2.1, the firearms guideline. The median prison term was 42 months (3.5 years), which is higher than the 40 months for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined. Of the 5,707, 96% pleaded guilty, and 54% were sentenced within the guideline range. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Fi](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms/) › §2K2.1: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 5,707 people were sentenced under §2K2.1, the firearms guideline. The median prison term was 42 months (3.5 years), which is higher than the 40 months for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined. Of the 5,707, 96% pleaded guilty, and 54% were sentenced within the guideline range. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 5,707 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## A 42-Month Median for Firearms Cases in Fiscal Year 2016 The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 5,707 people sentenced in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was §2K2.1\. The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles it "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition". The Commission files these cases under the Firearms offense type. A prison term went to 5,411 people (95%), and 191 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 42 months (3.5 years). A quarter received 71 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 under any guideline numbered 67,742, with a median prison term of 24 months. The §2K2.1 median was higher than that. ## Pleas and Trials A guilty plea ended 5,478 cases (96%), and 229 people were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 77% had a written plea agreement and 23% were straight pleas with no agreement. The median prison term was 41 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was 96 months, based on 221 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. These are medians for different groups of cases, so the gap does not show what any one person would have received after a different plea. ## Mandatory Minimums A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 448 of the 5,706 people with that information recorded (8%). The records do not say which statute supplied a minimum in any case. ## Position Against the Guideline Range For the 5,706 people with the information, 54% (3,099) were sentenced within the range. A sentence below the range without a government request applied to 25% (1,444), and below the range at the government's request to 16% (939). A sentence above the range applied to 4% (224). In fiscal year 2016, a sentence below the range without a government request was more common than one requested by the government. The records do not give the reasons a court used. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release after prison was ordered for 5,332 people (93%), with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received it for life. A fine was ordered for 313 people (5%), and restitution for 166 (3%). ## Fiscal Year 2016 Against the Full Period Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2K2.1 covered 74,599 people. Of those, 94% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 40 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 51% were within the range. In fiscal year 2016 the share within the range was higher than that. The next fiscal year, 2017, had 6,366 people, a median prison term of 40 months, and 55% within the range. The table lists every year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 5,707 | 42 months | 96% | | 2017 | 6,366 | 40 months | 96% | | 2018 | 7,032 | 41 months | 97% | | 2019 | 7,952 | 40 months | 97% | | 2020 | 7,091 | 37 months | 97% | | 2021 | 7,735 | 37 months | 98% | | 2022 | 8,875 | 40 months | 97% | | 2023 | 8,393 | 41 months | 97% | | 2024 | 7,742 | 41 months | 97% | | 2025 | 7,706 | 42 months | 97% | ## Limits of the Records The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. A federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, so fiscal year 2016 began on October 1, 2015\. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (5,707), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served. **Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial. **Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms/) (overview) - [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.