§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
Federal courts sentenced 7,735 people in fiscal year 2021 in cases where §2K2.1 was the primary guideline. The median prison term for the 7,287 people sent to prison (94%) was 37 months. Sentences were within the guideline range for 49%, and 18% were below it at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Fi › §2K2.1: FY2021
In brief: Federal courts sentenced 7,735 people in fiscal year 2021 in cases where §2K2.1 was the primary guideline. The median prison term for the 7,287 people sent to prison (94%) was 37 months. Sentences were within the guideline range for 49%, and 18% were below it at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 7,735 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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 series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The Commission had range information for 7,732 people. Within the range: 49% (3,827). Above the range: 5% (378).
Sentences below the range were recorded in separate categories. At the government's request, 18% (1,424) were below it. Without a government request, 27% (2,103) were below it.
The following fiscal year, 2022, had sentences within the range for 50%, and the previous year, 2020, had 50% as well. Fiscal year 2021 was slightly lower at 49%.
How Many People, and What Happened to Them
The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports 7,735 people sentenced under this guideline in the fiscal year that ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. Of these, 7,287 (94%) were sentenced to prison. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 355 (5%), and 1 person received a life sentence.
Among those sent to prison, a quarter received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median was 37 months, or 3.1 years. These are terms imposed by the court, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 7,575 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 160 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a plea was 37 months. After a trial it was 80 months, based on 156 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Of those who pleaded guilty, 79% had a written plea agreement, and 21% pleaded without one.
Nothing in these numbers shows how the cases differed in facts. They describe groups of people and do not measure the effect of going to trial.
A Look at Mandatory Minimums and Criminal History
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 427 of the 7,734 people with that information, which is 6%.
In criminal history, 14% were in category I, the lowest, and 22% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
After Prison and Other Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 7,216 people (93%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 438 (6%). Restitution was ordered for 158 (2%).
The Guideline Title, the Wider Data, and Limits
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2K2.1 "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition." The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear here.
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the guideline covers 74,599 people, with a median prison term of 40 months and 51% sentenced within the range. In fiscal year 2021 across every guideline, 57,287 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 29 months and 43% within the range.
Fiscal year 2020 under §2K2.1 had 7,091 people and a median of 37 months. Fiscal year 2022 had 8,875 people and a median of 40 months. The table gives every year for this guideline.
Because only convicted and sentenced people are counted, acquittals and dismissals are missing. The records also do not show why any sentence was set where it was.
| 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% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (7,735), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.