What is gun trafficking charges

| by Max Soni

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling the cases others won’t touch. We represented Anna Delvey in the case that became a Netflix series, handled the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct matter that made national headlines, and we’ve defended clients in firearms cases that seemed unwinnable. If you’re here, you’re likely facing gun trafficking charges — federal charges that didn’t even exist as standalone crimes until 2022.

Gun trafficking is now one of the most aggressively prosecuted firearms offenses in federal court. The Department of Justice has charged over 500 defendants under the new statute in just two years, many of them linked to organized trafficking rings and transnational cartels. This article explains what gun trafficking charges actually are, how they differ from straw purchasing, what penalties you face, and why these cases demand experienced federal defense counsel.

Gun trafficking became a federal crime on June 25, 2022, when Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Before that, federal prosecutors had to use workarounds – charging gun traffickers with things, like making false statements on ATF forms or being felons in possession. Now there’s a dedicated statute, 18 U.S.C. § 933, that targets the core conduct directly.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 933, it’s unlawful to knowingly ship, transport, transfer, or dispose of any firearm to another person in interstate or foreign commerce if you know or have reasonable cause to believe the recipient would commit a felony by possessing it. It’s also unlawful to receive a firearm under those same circumstances. Attempting or conspiring to do either is equally illegal.

The interstate commerce element is critical – it makes this a federal case instead of state court. Prosecutors don’t need to prove you physically crossed state lines yourself. If the gun was manufactured out of state, that’s enough. If any component traveled in interstate commerce at any point, that satisfies the requirement. Federal jurisdiction is broad here.

What separates gun trafficking from other firearms charges is the knowledge requirement. Prosecutors must prove you knew or reasonably should have known the recipient was prohibited from possessing guns or intended to use them for felonies, drug trafficking, or terrorism. That knowledge element is where cases get fought – what did you actually know about the buyer’s background or intentions, what should you have known, what red flags did you ignore.

Straw purchasing and gun trafficking often overlap, but they’re separate crimes with separate statutes. Straw purchasing – that’s 18 U.S.C. § 932 – occurs when you buy a gun on behalf of someone else who can’t legally buy it themselves or intends to use it for serious crimes. You’re lying on the ATF Form 4473 when you check the box saying you’re the actual buyer.

Gun trafficking is broader. It covers the movement of firearms from legal markets to illegal ones, whether through straw purchases, black market sales, theft rings, or any method that puts guns in prohibited hands. You don’t need to be the original purchaser to traffic guns – you can be a middleman, a reseller, someone who transports them, anyone in the distribution chain. Many defendants get charged with both straw purchasing and trafficking because one act satisfies elements of both crimes.

The penalties are serious – up to 15 years in federal prison for standard violations. If prosecutors prove you knew or had reasonable cause to believe the firearm would be used to commit a felony, federal crime of terrorism, or drug trafficking crime, the maximum jumps to 25 years. There’s no mandatory minimum attached to these statutes, but federal sentencing guidelines still apply, and judges calculate sentences based on factors, like the number of firearms involved, whether they crossed international borders, whether they ended up used in violent crimes.

Recent cases show how DOJ prioritizes these prosecutions. In July 2025, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed indictments charging six defendants with trafficking 50 firearms and four machine gun conversion devices in Queens. Between December 2024 and June 2025, those defendants allegedly sold at least 29 firearms – semi-automatic weapons, defaced guns – inside apartment complexes in the Rockaways. These weren’t isolated transactions. They were systematic operations moving serious firepower into criminal hands.

That’s typical of gun trafficking cases in 2025. Prosecutors target organized rings, repeat offenders, cross-border smuggling operations. If you’re charged with gun trafficking, odds are good the government has been investigating for months, they’ve got cooperating witnesses, wiretaps, surveillance footage, financial records tracing gun purchases. These aren’t simple possession cases where police find one gun during a traffic stop. They’re conspiracy cases built on volumes of evidence.

Cooperation becomes valuable in these cases because trafficking charges often involve multiple defendants. If you’re part of a distribution network – someone’s supplying you guns, you’re selling to downstream buyers – the government wants to flip you against higher-level targets. That’s where substantial assistance departures under 5K1.1 come into play, potentially reducing your guideline range significantly if you provide useful information that leads to other prosecutions.

But cooperation isn’t automatic or guaranteed. You need counsel who understands how these negotiations work, what information has value to prosecutors, how to protect you from saying too much or becoming a target yourself. Federal gun trafficking cases intersect with drug conspiracies, gang prosecutions, immigration violations – one statement can implicate you in crimes beyond the trafficking charge.

These cases also raise unique defenses depending on the facts. Did you actually know the recipient was prohibited? What evidence supports the government’s claim you had “reasonable cause to believe” they’d use the gun illegally? Were you entrapped by undercover ATF agents pushing you to make sales you wouldn’t have made otherwise? Was the interstate commerce element actually satisfied? Each case has pressure points where the government’s proof gets thin.

What you do immediately after arrest matters. Don’t talk to ATF agents without counsel present – they’re building their case, not helping you. Don’t consent to searches of your home, phone, or vehicle without a warrant. Don’t try to explain away the transactions or minimize your involvement. Federal agents are trained interrogators, and anything you say gets used against you at trial, even statements you thought were helpful or exculpatory.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal firearms prosecutions for years – from simple felon-in-possession cases to complex multi-defendant trafficking conspiracies. We know how ATF builds these cases, we know the prosecutors in these districts, we know which defenses resonate with federal judges and which fall flat. Gun trafficking charges are relatively new, but the underlying principles – knowledge, intent, interstate commerce – are familiar terrain for experienced federal defense attorneys.

If you’re facing gun trafficking charges, you’re in federal court facing up to 15 or 25 years. You need attorneys who handle federal cases regularly, who understand sentencing guidelines and cooperation agreements, who can challenge the government’s evidence at every stage. This isn’t the time for a general practice lawyer who handles state court misdemeanors. Federal gun trafficking prosecutions demand federal criminal defense experience.