Gun rights advocates strongly rebuked the Trump administration after reports that the Department of Justice is looking into restricting transgender Americans from owning firearms.
Multiple outlets reported that the DOJ is considering a ban in the wake of the shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured 21 people. Law enforcement identified the suspect as a 23-year-old transgender woman, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene of the shooting.
The proposed ban generated sharp criticism from Second Amendment groups who have historically supported President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, including the National Rifle Association, a national organization that has donated significantly to Republican campaigns for years.
“The NRA supports the Second Amendment rights of all law abiding Americans to purchase, possess and use firearms,” the group said in a statement. “NRA does not, and will not, support any policy proposals that implement sweeping gun bans that arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process.”
POLITICO has not independently verified reports that DOJ is weighing a potential ban, and the White House and DOJ did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. But when asked Thursday about the possibility — which was first reported by The Daily Wire — a DOJ spokesperson did not rule out a gun ban.
“The DOJ is actively evaluating options to prevent the pattern of violence we have seen from individuals with specific mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “No specific criminal justice proposals have been advanced at this time.”
And when asked about the proposal in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, Trump opted to “pass” on sharing his thoughts, asking instead to keep the focus on an executive order designating the “Department of War” as a secondary name for the Department of Defense.
Trump has forged close ties to gun groups throughout his political career. The NRA endorsed each of Trump’s three political campaigns, and he spoke at the group’s national convention last year, where he pledged to defend the Second Amendment during his second term.
Gun rights groups have often pushed back on Democrats who have previously called for laws restricting access to firearms following mass shootings.
But Second Amendment advocates have a history of battling Trump’s appetite for gun restrictions. During his first term, Trump approved a ban on bump stocks, a gun modification used in a mass shooting that killed dozens in Las Vegas in 2017. The Supreme Court overturned the ban last year.
Trump also expressed openness for an assault weapons ban after mass shootings during his first term, including the 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead. The New York Times reported Trump privately weighed an assault weapons ban following two mass shootings in Ohio and Texas that took place in quick succession in 2019.
In the wake of the latest proposed ban, some gun rights proponents urged the Trump administration to stay away entirely from gun issues.
“Our advice to the ATF, DOJ, and FBI is to stop chasing headlines on the back of the Second Amendment and focus on preserving and protecting gun rights so that law-abiding Americans can defend their loved ones from violent nutcases, criminals, and gang members,” Dudley Brown — president of the National Association for Gun Rights, which has cast itself as more conservative than the NRA — said in a social media post.
Second Amendment legal experts argued the potential ban would bypass due process and violate the Constitution. A person can be stripped of their firearms only after a judge declares them mentally “defective,” according to federal law.
“I don’t buy that this is real. In the off chance it is, it would be blatantly unconstitutional. And also without any legal basis,” Kostas Moros, director of legal research and education at the Second Amendment Foundation, said on X.
Other gun rights supporters worried a potential gun restriction from the Trump administration could create a precedent for Democrats to impose stricter gun laws once they eventually regain the White House.
“Once government starts deciding which Americans ‘qualify’ for 2A rights, the door is wide open for future anti-gun administrations to ram through Red Flag gun confiscation,” Texas Gun Rights, a gun advocacy group in Texas, said in a social media post.
Cheyanne Daniels contributed to this report.
