§2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 6 of the 17 sentences (35%) under §2K2.5 were above the guideline range, and 11 (65%) were within it. 13 of the 17 people (76%) received prison, with a median prison term of 12 months. All 17 pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal › §2K2.5: FY2020
In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 6 of the 17 sentences (35%) under §2K2.5 were above the guideline range, and 11 (65%) were within it. 13 of the 17 people (76%) received prison, with a median prison term of 12 months. All 17 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
Sentences Above the Guideline Range Were More Common in 2020
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 17 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 with §2K2.5 as the primary guideline. 11 sentences (65%) were within the guideline range and 6 (35%) were above it. None was below the range.
Fiscal year 2019 had 82% within the range, and fiscal year 2021 had 90%. For all years from 2016 to 2025, 73% of sentences under this guideline were within the range, so 2020 was lower than the full period.
Prison and Probation
13 of the 17 people (76%) were sent to prison, and 3 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 12 months.
A quarter of them received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. 12 people (71%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months.
All 17 Pleaded Guilty
17 of 17 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. 82% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement and 18% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 17 people (6%). Only people who were convicted and sentenced are in the Commission data, so acquittals and dismissals are not counted.
Criminal History, Fines, and Restitution
35% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 18% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
A fine was ordered for 3 people (18%). No restitution was ordered (0).
Where 2020 Sits Against Other Years and All Guidelines
Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. The 12-month median was higher than the 5 months in fiscal year 2019 and higher than the 5.5 months in fiscal year 2021.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 132 people were sentenced under §2K2.5. 59% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.2 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The 2020 share sent to prison was higher than 59%.
For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, 64,565 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 18 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 50% of sentences were within the range.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 | 7.3 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 12 | 10.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 12 | 10.8 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 17 | 5 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 17 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 10 | 5.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 12 | 13.9 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 21 | 18.5 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 12 | 18.7 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 9 | 10 months | 9 of 9 |
How to Read These Numbers
The guideline is titled "Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility; Possession or Discharge of Firearm in School Zone," and the Commission lists it under Firearms. The group of 17 is small, and the records do not say why sentences were above the range. They also do not show the conduct in any case.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2K2.5 (17), 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)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2K2.5 Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.