From Campus to Classroom: Stories That Shape Education
- DOJ considers proposals to restrict firearm purchases for people who identify as transgender after a high-profile shooting.
- Some officials propose declaring transgender people mentally ill to bar gun ownership, citing Trump administration alignment.
- Legal experts warn such a mass ban likely fails because only judges can declare someone mentally defective under federal law.
- Attorney General Bondi previously backed gun restrictions and targeted transgender medical providers with subpoenas.
Written By Lexx Thornton
The Justice Department is discussing proposals to potentially block transgender Americans from buying firearms. In the wake of the deadly Minneapolis Catholic church shooting conducted by Robin Westman, who identified as a trans woman, DOJ officials are mulling options the Trump administration can take to restrict the 2nd Amendment rights of some Americans, sources familiar with the talks said. Some DOJ members believe the move can be approved as a follow-up on Trump’s executive order barring military service by transgender people.
One option could see Trump formally declare that people who identify as transgender are mentally ill and are not legally allowed to possess firearms, one Justice official told CNN.
The controversial move has gained steam among conservatives following Westman’s rampage at the Annunciation Catholic Church, where the shooter killed two children and injured 21 others.
Westman had legally purchased the firearms used to kill the students, with the demonic gunman seen on security footage grinning as he tested out the weapons at Frontiersman Sports in St. Louis Park, KSTP reported.
While the vast majority of mass shootings in the US have no connection to transgender people, talking points over transgender violence have started to dominate conservative media.
Senior White House officials, however, cautioned that any proposal to ban weapons would likely run into a slew of legal complications, sources told the Post. Federal law requires that only a judge can declare someone mentally “defective” and strip them of their right to own firearms. A mass ban on transgender people would therefore be difficult to implement or enforce. Despite the hurdles, a DOJ spokesman said that a “range of options” is on the table, the Daily Wire reported. “Under Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, this Department of Justice is actively considering a range of options to prevent mentally unstable individuals from committing acts of violence, especially at schools,” the spokesman said.
Bondi has previously advocated for gun restriction laws while serving as Florida’s attorney general, where she defended a state law that raised the age requirement to purchase firearms in the wake of the 2018 Parkland school shooting.
She has also taken aim at transgender treatments across the US, sending more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics who have provided transgender medical procedures to minors.
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