President Donald Trump's Justice Department is reportedly considering a proposal to ban transgender Americans from purchasing firearms, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the New York Post on Thursday (September 4).

Some Department of Justice members reportedly believe they can approve the proposal as a followup to Trump's executive order prohibiting transgender people from serving in the United States military. The reported proposal comes days after Robin Westman, who identified as a trans woman, was identified as the suspect in a deadly shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

An anonymous Justice Department official told CNN that Republican lawmakers could declare that people who are transgender are mentally ill and can, therefore, lose their Second Amendment rights to bear arms, which would be similar to Trump's determination for the transgender military ban. Another Justice Department source warned that such a proposal would likely be met with legal complications.

Millions of Americans who deal with mental health issues and take medications are not deemed to be a danger to society and are, therefore, not prohibited from their Second Amendment rights. A judge must declare an individual to be mentally "defective" before taking away their right to purchase a firearm in adherence with federal law.

A spokesperson for the LGBTQA+ advocacy group GLADD said the DOJ was attempting to portray the transgender community as a scapegoat as part of the reported proposal.

“Instead of actual solutions, the administration is again choosing to scapegoat and target a small and vulnerable population,” the GLAAD spokesperson said via CNN, acknowledging that transgender community accounts for less than 2% of the U.S. population but four times as likely to be victims of crime. “Everyone deserves to be themselves, be safe, and be free from violence and discrimination.”

Mandy Connell