Federal Firearms Offenses

What Constitutes a Federal Firearm (Gun) Offense?

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Greenfield & Zawitz, 1995), a Firearm Offense under Federal law is a “violation of statutes or regulations that control deadly weapons.” Included in this definition are…

• Firearms
• Ammunition
• Silencers
• Explosives
• Certain knives

According to that same source, about 2% of Federal arrests are for Federal Firearms violations.
There are numerous specific offenses which constitute a Federal Firearms Offense. The defense chosen will depend largely on which specific Federal Firearms Offense has been charged. For a complete list of Federal Firearms Offenses, click here.

1. Transfer Offenses occur when a transfer of a firearm has occurred. These offenses are generally issued when fraud has occurred, whether on the part of the purchaser or on the part of the seller. Specifically, some of the charges which one may face in this category include:
   • Falsification of a written or oral statement regarding the legality of a purchase
   • Giving or selling a weapon to a person known/suspected of belonging to a group restricted from possessing firearms
   • Failing to report the transfer (sale or gift) to another
2. Prohibited Persons Offenses occur when a person makes a transfer (meaning sale or gift) to a person who is a known
   • convicted felon
   • Fugitive
   • Adjudicated “mental defective”
   • Unlawful user of controlled substances
   • Dishonorably discharged service personnel
   • Illegal alien
   • Those who have renounced their U.S. citizenship
   • Any found guilty of misdemeanor domestic violence or subject to a restraining order involving domestic violence
3. Using or Carrying a Firearm During Crime of Violence or Drug Trafficking charges
4. Exporting Firearms without a Valid License
5. Some common guideline offenses which occur out-of-doors and carry stronger sentences include…
   • Possession of Firearm During Commission of Drug Offense – Adds two offense levels to the recommended sentence.
   • Robbery – Adds three to seven offense levels to the recommended sentence. Was the weapon “brandished” “used” or “discharged?” Add more. Stating to victims “I have a gun” constitutes a threat of death and an additional two offense levels added to the sentence.
   • Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the U.S. – These include currency, coins, postage stamps, and other such items. The use of a weapon during the commission of crimes involving such items increases sentencing by two offense levels and guarantees a minimum offense level 13. That is, if the sentence recommendation falls short of Level 13 for any reason, the charges are raised to that level because of the inclusion of weapon (USSC, 2013).

What Are The Possible Penalties For a Federal Firearms Offense?

Perhaps no other topic is of greater concern to anyone facing a Federal Firearms Offense than sentencing. The penalty is the most feared phase of any trial and at the Law Offices of Jason A. Korner, we hear more questions related to the possible penalties than any other. So here is the long and short of it.

Penalties, that is the sentences rendered in Federal Firearms offenses range from 1 year to 30 or more, including death according to the Firearms Offenses Cheat Sheet. For instance, something as simple as “Knowingly in possession of firearm in federal facility” carries only 1 year. However, “knowingly making a sale to a prohibited person” will produce a 10-year sentence if found guilty. Finally, and we do mean final, “Causing death during § 924(c) violation” carries a possible death sentence.

Possible Criminal Defenses Against Federal Gun Charges

Speaking of Defenses to Federal Firearms Offenses, some of the possibilities include…

• Legal Justification for Possession by virtue of duress, necessity, or self-defense… otherwise knowns as a self-defense strategy. Essentially, if there was a justified reason for the use of the firearm in question, the charges may be dropped.
• Entrapment. If the defendant can prove that the government played a direct role in setting the scene from which the charges stemmed, then this may be a valid defense.
• “Knowing possession.” The defendant charged with the Federal Weapons Charge will be assumed to have known about the existence and location of the weapon in question but the Federal Prosecutor has the job of proving such knowledge. Without prior knowledge of the weapon, there may not be a crime.
• Actual, constructive, joint, or sole possession. It just be further proven that the defendant had the weapon in question in his/her physical possession at a point prior to or concurrent with the commission of the crime. Did the defendant come into possession of the weapon after the commission of the crime? Why?

If any of these elements are not soundly provable, reasonable doubt may be proven and the defendant found Not-Guilty.

Useful Resources

1. United States Sentencing Commission. (USSC, 2013). Firearms Offenses Handbook.
2. Greenfeld, L.A. and Zawitz, M.W. Statisticians. (Nov1995). BJS Selected Findings. Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Weapons Offenses and Offenders. Bureau of Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.
3. OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DISTRICT (OUSAD) OF MAINE (SEPT2010). Summary of Federal Firearms Laws.