For the third straight year, the Biden administration’s federal gun control enforcement efforts hit close to record levels in 2023. The pace has slowed modestly, but the administration continues an aggressive enforcement policy.Â
The number of firearms cases recommended for prosecution fell by just 174 cases year-on-year — from 10,138 in 2022 to 9,964 last year. This was roughly the same number of cases recommended for prosecution in 2017 and is well-above the average of 9,432 cases recommended for prosecution over the last nine years. (See Footnote)
The number of firearms cases initiated by the ATF in 2023 fell moderately, from 34,436 in 2022 to 31,089 last year.
Unfortunately, Federal prosecutors were more efficient last year, with the percentage of initiated cases recommended for prosecution up to 32 percent compared to 29 percent in 2022.Â
Cases Recommended for Prosecution
The 9,964 cases recommended for prosecution in 2023 were generally on par with the record-level numbers of the last five years (except for the pandemic year dropoff).
- 2023 – 9,964
- 2022 – 10,138
- 2021 – 11,224
- 2020 – 8,025
- 2019 – 11,319
- 2018 – 10,691
- 2017 – 9,591
- 2016 – 8,805
- 2015 – 7,516
- 2014 – 7,577
Indicted Cases
Despite initiating and prosecuting fewer cases last year, the ATF got more indictments in 2023 than it did in 2022.
There were indictments in 6,592 cases last year compared to 6,315 in 2022. The 2023 numbers are on par with Obama’s last year in office, but still nowhere close to the record levels from the Trump administration in 2019.
The ATF notes that “cases and defendants indicted, convicted, and sentenced are not subsets of cases and defendants recommended for prosecution in FY 2022. The snapshot presents actual judicial activity in the fiscal year regardless of the year the matter was recommended for prosecution. For example, “percentage indicted” should not be calculated based upon the presented data, as the case indicted may have been presented in a previous fiscal year.”
- 2023 – 6,592
- 2022 – 6,315
- 2021 – 7,532
- 2020 – 6,934
- 2019 – 8,360
- 2018 – 7,630
- 2017 – 7,137
- 2016 – 6,357
- 2015 – 5,503
- 2014 – 5,310
In all, the feds indicted 9,717 individual defendants in 2023. This was a 4.6 percent increase over last year and in line with the record-level average over the last several years.
Convictions
Federal prosecutors also achieved a higher conviction rate in 2023.
In 2022, the feds got convictions in 5,338 cases. That rose to 5,881 last year despite fewer cases prosecuted. This was just below Trump’s second year in office, and significantly lower than his record in 2019. Based on the numbers, Biden is positioning himself to be the second-worst in history.
- 2023 – 5,881
- 2022 – 5,338
- 2021 – 5,967
- 2020 – 5,181
- 2019 – 6,887
- 2018 – 5,485
- 2017 – 6,068
- 2016 – 5,517
- 2015 – 4,031
- 2014 – 4,482
In total, federal prosecutors convicted 7,917 defendants in cases brought by the ATF.
Case Types
The ATF also investigates arson, cases involving explosives, and alcohol and tobacco cases, but these make up a small percentage of the total. Last year, 90.4 percent of all cases were related to firearms. Under Trump, 92 percent of the cases investigated by the ATF involved firearms. It was slightly less under Obama – 90 percent.
Additionally, as can be seen in the chart below, the vast majority of enforcement actions were for paperwork violations, with issues regarding form F 4473 being cited as five of the top-ten.
The Lesson?
As can be seen in the breakdown above, an aggressive level of federal gun control enforcement isn’t something limited to Joe Biden, or even just Democrats. Both parties have utterly failed to abide by the clear restrictions in the Second Amendment. In what might be a surprise to many, based on the data, Biden has actually been a little less aggressive than Trump.
During a public appearance in 2019, President Donald Trump proudly reminded us about his gun control credentials, bragging that his administration implemented new gun control and conducted more enforcement actions than any president in history. He still holds that record today.
ATF enforcement of federal gun laws under Trump in year one increased at roughly the same trajectory as it did during the last three years of Obama’s second term and it continued at roughly the same pace until the pandemic slowed things down. With the pandemic behind us, Biden has maintained the status quo – aggressive enforcement of unconstitutional federal gun laws.
In fact, ATF enforcement increased in each of the first three years of Trump’s administration. The only time enforcement numbers fell significantly was when most of the country was shut down for COVID-19.
We can’t trust anybody in Washington D.C. to protect the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms.
In fact, if the government followed the Constitution, the ATF wouldn’t exist. All federal gun control laws are unconstitutional. Under the Constitution, there is nothing for the ATF to enforce.
Even among the strongest supporters of “gun rights,” most hold the view that the Second Amendment allows for “reasonable” federal regulation of firearms. But as originally understood, the Second Amendment includes no such exceptions. Constitutionally speaking, the federal government should not regulate the manufacture or private ownership of firearms.
At all.
There wasn’t an asterisk after “shall not be infringed.” No terms and conditions apply.
The bottom line is we can’t trust Republicans or Democrats in Washington D.C. to uphold the Second Amendment.
Footnote 1
All enforcement statistics were taken from the following ATF Fact Sheets
- Tench Coxe: Forgotten Federalist who Helped Influence Ratification of the Constitution - November 18, 2024
- States vs. Feds: The 10th Amendment Battle Over Conscription in the War of 1812 - November 15, 2024
- George Mason’s Anti-Federalist Arguments Against the Constitution - November 11, 2024