The trajectory of federal gun crimes

Federal gun prosecutions have been a significant part of the federal docket for decades. In this article we explore for the first time the evolution of federal gun crimes. They cover conduct ranging from gun distribution and possession of particular weapons such as machine guns to use by drug traffickers and individual possession of !rearms by felons. Second, we describe how in practice gun charges have adapted to criminal law priorities of Congress and federal prosecutors over time. More recently, they became prominent in connection with immigration prosecutions, while in the 1980s, drug gangs were the priority. During this time, gun cases provided vehicles for testing the reach of federal jurisdiction, the use of federal crimes as sentencing enhancements, and the boundaries between federal, state, and local enforcement. We argue federal gun crimes reflect a unique dynamic in which legislation is shaped by three forces: (1) aggressive interest group lobbying that leads to compromise on harsh punishment; (2) a dichotomizing of gun users into either "law-abiding citizens" or "thugs" and "gangsters"; and (3) prosecutorial power that is magnified in this area due to the ubiquity of firearms in communities and in criminal activity in the United States, which both permits broad federal jurisdiction and allows prosecutors to use their equally broad discretion to leverage severe sentences to obtain plea bargains. Our overall goal is to illuminate the central, but inconsistent and complex, place of gun crimes in federal criminal law. We conclude by asking what principles could guide the development of this body of law through judicial interpretation, future legislation, and in enforcement, towards a new vision in which federal law is designed to reduce disparities in enforcement and to prevent gun violence.