> ## 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 2019 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2019/ - Published: 2026-11-04T09:52:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T09:52:04.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2019, 27% of the people sentenced under §2K2.1 received a sentence below the guideline range without a government request, and 53% were within the range. The Commission counted 7,952 people. The median prison term was 40 months (3.3 years), and 97% pleaded guilty. - 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: FY2019 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2019, 27% of the people sentenced under §2K2.1 received a sentence below the guideline range without a government request, and 53% were within the range. The Commission counted 7,952 people. The median prison term was 40 months (3.3 years), and 97% pleaded guilty. 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 7,952 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019\. 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/). ## Below the Range Without a Government Request The Commission lists the sentence position for 7,952 people under §2K2.1 in fiscal year 2019\. Of those, 53% (4,247) were within the guideline range. Another 27% (2,147) were below the range without a government request. A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 16% (1,238), and a sentence above the range to 4% (320). In this year, a sentence below the range without a government request was more common than one at the government's request. The share within the range was 55% in fiscal year 2018 and 50% in fiscal year 2020\. Fiscal year 2019 was lower than 2018 and higher than 2020\. The records do not give the reasons a court used. ## Prison Terms of 40 Months at the Median A prison term went to 7,493 of the 7,952 people (94%), and 296 (4%) received probation only. The median prison term was 40 months (3.3 years). A quarter received 64 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. In fiscal year 2018 the median was 41 months, and in fiscal year 2020 it was 37 months. For everyone sentenced in federal court under any guideline in fiscal year 2019, the group numbered 76,538 and the median prison term was 21 months. ## The Guideline and the Year The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2K2.1 "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition". The Commission's offense type for these cases is Firearms. The count of 7,952 was higher than the 7,032 in fiscal year 2018 and higher than the 7,091 in fiscal year 2020\. Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. ## Pleas, Plea Agreements, and Trial Convictions A total of 7,729 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 223 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 38 months after a guilty plea and 96 months after a trial, based on 222 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. These figures describe different groups of cases and cannot show the result of a different choice in any one case. ## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 549 of the 7,951 people with that information recorded (7%). Supervised release followed prison for 7,400 people (93%), with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received it for life. A fine was ordered for 436 people (5%), and restitution for 227 (3%). ## The Full Yearly Table From fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 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 sentenced within the range. The table lists the count, median, and plea rate for each 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 This Post Only people convicted and sentenced appear in the Commission's files, so acquittals and dismissals cannot be seen. Prison terms are the terms imposed and not time served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. This post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (7,952), 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 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2018/) (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.