By FOX23 News
OKLAHOMA — During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, United States Attorney Robert J. Troester is taking a moment to highlight the success of the Western District of Oklahoma’s Operation 922, a program that prosecutes violent domestic abusers who violate federal firearms laws.
“You cannot have safe neighborhoods without first having safer homes,” explained Troester. “When domestic violence escalates to involve firearms, the likelihood of death for the abuse victim or responding law enforcement increases exponentially. Simply put, Operation 922 is a targeted strategy to save lives by holding domestic abusers accountable for violation of federal laws before their violence escalates.”
In a 2025 report created by the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, it was noted that Oklahoma has consistently ranked in the top ten states for women murdered by men since 1996.
In addition to domestic violence posing a major danger to intimate partners, a 2025 report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that domestic disturbance calls were the second most common call that ultimately led to a firearms-related death of a police officer in the line of duty.
Operation 922, a local Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, was launched in 2018 to address these significant risk factors by holding domestic abusers accountable when they break the law in connection to illegally owning, or attempting to illegally own, a firearm.
1. Previously convicted of a felony offense
2. Previously convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
3. Under current felony indictment
4. Subject to an active domestic violence related Victim Protective Order
5. Made false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers
Law enforcement officials said they have seized 606 firearms and 18,068 rounds of ammunition through Operation 922.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Brian Garner explained, “Operation 922 demonstrates the life-saving impact that comes from bringing law enforcement agencies together to address the intersection of domestic violence and firearms. When a violent domestic abuser is prohibited from possessing a firearm, identifying and removing that firearm can prevent further violence and potentially save a life. ATF is proud to work alongside our federal, state, local and tribal partners to hold these offenders accountable and to ensure that firearms do not become tools of intimidation, control or further violence in our communities.”
In total, 433 defendants have been charged in connection to Operation 922.
Of those 433, over 96% were either convicted at trial or entered a guilty plea, and over 90% have been given a sentence averaging around six years and one month in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has trained over 2,500 federal, state, local and tribal officers and prosecutors across the nation on Operation 922, with over half of those trainings taking place in Oklahoma as other U.S. Attorney’s Offices work to implement a similar model in their own districts.
To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, click here.
