Firearm Use by Offenders
Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D. - BJS Statistician | Published on 1/31/2022
Approximately 203,300 prisoners
serving a sentence in a State or
Federal prison in 1997 were armed
when they committed the crime for
which they were serving time. An
estimated 18% of State prison inmates
and 15% of Federal inmates reported
using, carrying, or possessing a firearm
during the crime for which they were
sentenced. In 1991, 16% of State
inmates and 12% of Federal inmates
said they were armed at the time of
their offense.