> ## 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 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2k2-1-unlawful-receipt-possession-or-transportation-of-firearms-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:06:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:06:30.000Z - Description: Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in the Commission's data for §2K2.1 firearms cases. A total of 7,706 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 42 months, or 3.5 years. For everyone sentenced in federal court that year, the median was 24 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: FY2025 **In brief:** Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in the Commission's data for §2K2.1 firearms cases. A total of 7,706 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 42 months, or 3.5 years. For everyone sentenced in federal court that year, the median was 24 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 7,706 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025\. 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 Most Recent Year: Counts and Prison Terms The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025\. In it, 7,706 people were sentenced with §2K2.1 as the primary guideline. Of them, 7,231 (94%) were sent to prison, and 395 (5%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For people who went to prison, a quarter received 70 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median was 42 months. Prison terms are the terms imposed, so time served may be shorter. ## How Does This Compare With Every Other Federal Case in 2025? In fiscal year 2025, the Commission counted 66,662 people across all guidelines. The median prison term for that whole group was 24 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 51% were sentenced within the guideline range. Under §2K2.1, the median was higher at 42 months. Guilty pleas were 97%, and sentences within the range were 49%. The Commission files these cases under its Firearms offense type, which had 7,706 people this year. ## Pleas, Trials, and Agreements There were 7,487 guilty pleas, and 219 people were convicted after a trial. After a plea the median prison term was 41 months, and after a trial it was 84 months. The trial figure covers 219 people who were sentenced to prison. Among those who pleaded guilty, 77% had a written plea agreement, and 22% had none. The groups are not matched by facts, so the medians cannot show the effect of a trial. ## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums The range data covered 7,705 people. Sentences within the range: 49% (3,797). Above the range: 6% (473). Below the range at the government's request: 18% (1,388). Below the range with no such request: 27% (2,047). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 366 of 7,704 people with that information (5%). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release was ordered after prison for 7,128 people (92%), with a median of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 444 (6%) and restitution for 221 (3%). In criminal history, 22% were in category I, the lowest, and 18% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Earlier Years, Full Title, and Limits The Sentencing Guidelines Manual title for §2K2.1 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. The previous year, 2024, had 7,742 people under the guideline, a median of 41 months, and 50% within the range. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, 74,599 people were sentenced, with a median of 40 months and 51% within the range. The table lists each year. Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. The data cannot show case facts, time served, or why a court chose a 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 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.1 (7,706), 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 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.