> ## 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 2022 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2022/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:06:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:06:29.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2022, 8,875 people were sentenced under §2K2.1, the highest yearly count in the table below for this firearms guideline. The median prison term was 40 months, and 97% of the people sentenced had pleaded guilty. The median prison term after a trial was 84 months. - 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: FY2022 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2022, 8,875 people were sentenced under §2K2.1, the highest yearly count in the table below for this firearms guideline. The median prison term was 40 months, and 97% of the people sentenced had pleaded guilty. The median prison term after a trial was 84 months. 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 8,875 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022\. 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/). ## The Largest Year for This Guideline in the Table The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 8,875 people sentenced in fiscal year 2022 with §2K2.1 as the primary guideline. The table shows a lower count in every other year from 2016 to 2025. The fiscal year began on October 1, 2021 and ended on September 30, 2022\. All of the people counted were convicted and sentenced. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in this data. The Commission sorts these cases into its Firearms offense type, which also had 8,875 people this 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% | ## Prison, Probation, and Median Terms Prison terms went to 8,341 people (94%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 414 people (5%). For those who went to prison, the median term was 40 months, or 3.3 years. A quarter of them received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The terms are those the court imposed. They do not show time served. ## Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements Guilty pleas numbered 8,633 out of 8,875\. The remaining 242 people were convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 39.9 months. After a trial, it was 84 months, based on 238 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among those who pleaded guilty, 78% had a written plea agreement, and 22% entered a straight plea with no agreement. The figures describe groups of cases and cannot show what caused a difference in sentence length. ## Sentences Within and Outside the Range Range data were available for 8,872 people. A sentence within the guideline range was given to 50% (4,436). Below the range at the government's request: 18% (1,632). Below the range with no such request: 27% (2,355). Above the range: 5% (449). A mandatory minimum applied to 451 of the 8,873 people with that information, or 5%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History A supervised release term followed prison for 8,262 people (93%), and the median term was 36 months. Fines were ordered for 566 (6%), and restitution for 204 (2%). In criminal history, 14% of the people were in category I, which is the lowest, and 23% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Context From Other Years and All Guidelines The guideline's full title in the Sentencing Guidelines Manual is "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition." The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, the Commission counts 74,599 people under §2K2.1\. In that period, the median prison term was 40 months and 51% were sentenced within the range. In fiscal year 2022 across every guideline, 64,142 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 30 months, and 42% were within the range. The year before, 2021, had a median of 37 months under §2K2.1 and 49% within the range. The year after, 2023, had a median of 41 months and 49% within the range. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (8,875), 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 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2021/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2023/) (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.