Trump Threatens to Revoke Transgender Right to Arms

Some conservatives are wary of the government revoking second amendment rights for specific groups.

By Madison Fossa

 

The Trump Administration is reportedly considering steps to block individuals suffering from gender dysmorphia from attaining guns. News of the potential restrictions arrived  after a devastating school shooting in Minnesota, where a transgender identifying adult took the lives of 2 students and injured 21 more.  

According to the Daily Wire, the White House’s national security strategy was already planning to specifically research transgender domestic terrorism. Less than a week since this report came out, sources have reported that the administration is considering a ban on firearms for transgender individuals.  

 

Mental Health Concerns

Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism and deputy assistant, spoke with CNN about the ideological motivation behind the shooting in Minnesota, giving insight into the reported gun restrictions:

“We should look at the early warning… signs,” he explained. “One of these shooters… had 24 interactions with the local law enforcement… we should be proving mental health options for these individuals.”  

Gorka posits that there is little chance the shooter went from having his name changed to committing the crime “and nobody realized there was a problem.” There is a distinct pattern, he says, towards violence in transgender individuals that supersedes concern about their “sexual proclivities.” 

Notably, federal law already allows for individuals deemed mentally “defective” by a judge to have their right to forearms revoked. The Trump Administration reportedly suggests that because individuals suffering from gender dysmorphia are not mentally stable, they should be likewise disqualified from the right to bear arms “while they are unstable and unwell.”  

 

Warranted Restrictions? 

Backlash over these reports has risen from multiple political angles. Liberals, still disturbed by President Trump’s executive orders concerning transgender individuals, label the potential action as “discriminatory.” 

“There are lots of good reasons to keep certain people from owning guns. Being trans isn’t one of them,” wrote Kat Abughazaleh, running for Congress, in an X post.   

It seems that Ms. Abughazaleh is forgetting the trends of school shootings (and other violence) both threatened and performed by transgender-identifying individuals as of late. Irony abounds as liberals, quick to cry for gun control after almost every mass shooting, are so defensive now that members of the LGBTQ community are under scrutiny.  

However, Democrats are not alone in their critique. Even the NRA has distanced themselves from the potential actions, saying that they “[do] not and [will] not support any policy proposals that… arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process.”    

Understandably, some conservatives are wary of the government taking away gun rights for specific people groups. After all, can’t these actions be unjustly wielded by future administrations against Christians, conservatives, or any other group? While these concerns are understandable and the right to bear arms must remain sacred in America, the data and poor mental health of transgender individuals warrant scrutiny. If, as many conservatives believe to be true, these individuals are mentally ill, deranged, or distressed, their possession of firearms poses a danger to the public. Recent events support this proposition.  

If any other individual deemed mentally unstable by a court can have their second amendment right revoked or suspended, why should this rule not apply in the case of transgender-identifying individuals? Instead of writing off the idea as “fascist” or “totalitarian,” we must unite and at least consider these questions.   

 

 

About the Author

Madison Fossa is a senior Trustee Scholar at Grove City College majoring in Biology and minoring in Technical Writing.

In addition to working as a Marketing Fellow for the Institute, Madison is the president of Young Women for America’s Grove City chapter. This summer, Madison interned with the American Spectator as an Editorial Intern, and will continue to write for the Spectator as well as The College Fix.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grove City College, the Institute for Faith and Freedom, or their affiliates.

Cover Image: Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash (Cropped)