> ## 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 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2023/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:06:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:06:29.000Z - Description: Among the 7,846 people sent to prison under §2K2.1 in fiscal year 2023, the median prison term was 41 months, and a quarter received 70 months or more. The Commission counted 8,393 people sentenced under this guideline that year. The median was 96 months after a trial and 41 months after a guilty pl - 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: FY2023 **In brief:** Among the 7,846 people sent to prison under §2K2.1 in fiscal year 2023, the median prison term was 41 months, and a quarter received 70 months or more. The Commission counted 8,393 people sentenced under this guideline that year. The median was 96 months after a trial and 41 months after a guilty plea. 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 8,393 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023\. 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/). ## What Was the Typical Prison Term in Fiscal Year 2023? The median prison term was 41 months, which is 3.4 years. Looking at the spread, a quarter of the people sent to prison received 70 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. Prison was the sentence for 7,846 of the 8,393 people (93%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was the sentence for 446 people (5%). Another 2 people received a life sentence. All figures are the terms the court imposed. Time actually served is not in the data. ## How Did Trials Compare With Guilty Pleas? In this year, 8,176 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 217 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 41 months after a guilty plea and 96 months after a trial. The trial median is based on 216 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among the guilty pleas, 79% involved a written plea agreement. A straight plea with no agreement accounted for 21%. A comparison of medians cannot say what a trial changed, because the cases are not matched on facts. ## Were Sentences Inside the Guideline Range? The Commission had this information for 8,388 people. A total of 49% (4,129) were sentenced within the range, and 5% (452) above it. Below-range sentences were split by who asked. The government requested a lower sentence in 19% of the cases (1,580). In 27% (2,227), the sentence was below the range with no government request. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 417 of the 8,393 people with that information (5%). ## Release Terms, Fines, and Criminal History After prison, 7,777 people (93%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 455 people (5%) and restitution for 180 (2%). For criminal history, 18% were in category I, the lowest, and 21% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Reading the Year in Context Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023\. The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2K2.1 "Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition." The U.S. Sentencing Commission places the 8,393 cases in its Firearms offense type. Fiscal year 2022 under this guideline had 8,875 people and a median prison term of 40 months. Fiscal year 2024 had 7,742 people and a median of 41 months. Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 74,599 people were sentenced under §2K2.1, with a median of 40 months. All guidelines together for fiscal year 2023 covered 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and 42% sentenced within the range. The table gives the yearly count, median, and plea rate for this guideline. No court-martial offense in the approved crosswalk is a close counterpart, so these are federal numbers alone. The records leave out acquittals, dismissals, and the reasons behind any sentence. | 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 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (8,393), 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 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2022/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2K2.1 Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2024/) (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.