Gun Groups Oppose Trans Firearm Ban

MULTIPLE NEWS OUTLETS reported in September 2025 that the Justice Department was weighing a ban on gun possession by transgender people, on the theory that they are "mentally ill" and therefore "unstable." That constitutionally dubious proposal provoked objections from gun rights groups that typically align with the Trump administration, including the National Rifle Association (NRA).

- Jacob Sullum

The immediate impetus for the proposal, which harks back to a dark history of attempts to disarm disfavored groups such as Native Americans and black people, was the August 27 shooting that killed two children and injured 21 other people at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Police identified the perpetrator, who killed herself after attacking the worshipers, as a 23-year-old transgender woman.

CNN reported that "Justice Department leadership is seriously considering whether it can use its rulemaking authority" to "declare that people who are transgender are mentally ill and can lose their Second Amendment rights to possess firearms." Contrary to the implication, Congress has not given the Justice Department broad authority to disarm people based on psychiatric diagnoses.