Trump administration considers gun ban for transgender individuals after Minneapolis shooting

In the wake of last week’s shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, the Trump administration is reportedly considering stricter gun rules, targeting only transgender individuals. On Thursday, September 4, multiple media outlets, including CNN and The Daily Wire, reported that the US Department of Justice is exploring a ban on gun ownership for transgender people, potentially by classifying gender dysphoria as a serious mental illness that could override Second Amendment protections.

The proposal comes after Robin Westman, the 23-year-old former student accused of killing two children and injuring 18 others, was reported to be transgender

Donald Trump has faced criticism for a series of executive orders and policies targeting transgender Americans, including denying passports with correct gender markers, censoring school curricula regarding gender identity, restricting access to gender-affirming care, banning trans girls from school sports, reinstating the military ban on transgender service members and cutting funding for LGBTQ+ programs.

What the data say

As per the federal law, a judge must formally declare a person mentally "defective" before they can be denied the right to own a firearm. The vast majority of mass attacks in the United States have no link to transgender people. However, in the aftermath of last week's deadly shooting, some of the president's conservative allies quickly argued that gender dysphoria, a psychological condition caused by a mismatch between a person's birth sex and gender identity, is a mental illness that should prevent people from purchasing firearms.

From January 2013 to the present, of the more than 5,700 mass shootings in America (defined as four or more victims shot and killed), five shooters were confirmed as transgender, said Mark Bryant to CNN, founding executive director of the Gun Violence Archive.

Legal context

According to a Justice Department official, the potential ban is intended "to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell," CNN reports.

Because gender dysphoria is listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it is considered a mental disorder.