Arenas was charged Thursday with one count of carrying a pistol without a license.
The charges were filed in D.C. Superior Court in an "information," a document that generally signals a plea deal. His lawyer had no immediate comment.
Arenas has said he kept multiple guns in his locker at the Verizon Center. He claims he wanted to keep them away from his children and didn't know it was illegal.
He says he took them out of the locker on Dec. 21 in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate.
Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA.
