We haven't heard anything from the Department of Justice about trying to ban transgenders from purchasing or possessing firearms since the vast majority of national Second Amendment organizations came out and condemned the idea nearly a month ago. My guess (and hope) is that the trial balloon floated by unnamed DOJ staffers quickly popped after groups like the NRA, GOA, SAF, and NAGR expressed their opposition to the idea.
The New Yorker is still trying to use the controversial proposal to draw in readers, though, and a recent story suggests that some Second Amendment organizations are actually in favor of a ban.
The story is entitled "The Complexities of Trans Gun Ownership", but the sub-headline proclaims "In the face of threats and harassment, some trans Americans are becoming gun owners—only to be targeted by the same movements that claim to defend gun rights."
So what movements is author Grace Byron talking about? The most obvious movement to defend gun rights are pro-Second Amendment organizations, but Byron doesn't quote a single 2A group in support of such a ban. In fact, while she covered the NRA's response to the DOJ trial balloon, she ignored what other gun rights groups had to say.
Upon hearing the news about the internal D.O.J. discussions, the National Rifle Association issued a statement declaring its opposition to limiting the Second Amendment rights of any law-abiding citizen—though the N.R.A. did not explicitly name trans people.
That's the only mention of a gun rights organization in her entire article, other than quoting a trans musician and gun owner who was "heartened by the N.R.A. expressing support for everyone maintaining the ability to own guns, even if she doesn’t endorse the more right-wing aspects of the organization’s agenda."
So, if it's not the 2A movement, what movement is it?
As it turns out, Byron doesn't actually mention any movement at all. The only sources she cites on the right in favor of a gun ban for transgenders are the late Charlie Kirk and (maybe) Rep. Ronny Jackson, who called for the mass institutionalization of transgenders after Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Under federal law, those adjudicated as mentally defective are barred from gun ownership, so Jackson's idea would most likely lead to a ban on transgendered individuals owning guns if it was ever enacted.
Byron also quotes Daily Wire's Matt Walsh talking about "trans terrorism" and the Heritage Foundation calling on the FBI to designate “Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism” as a domestic terror threat, but a) thoee aren't outright calls to prohibit transgendered individuals from owning guns and b) don't comprise a "movement", as the New Yorker headline proclaimed.
Most of Byron's story details the experiences of trans gun owners, as well as her own visit to a range this past summer, which was the first time she shot a gun.
Aside from the employees staffing the front desk, I was the only woman there. My instructor told me to be careful of gunshot residue, since I was showing slightly more skin than the men in camouflage and hockey jerseys next to me. Over all, it was a surprisingly mundane outing. I fired a few rounds and then I left.
I'm not sure what was so surprising about that, or what Byron was expecting from her outing, but even the trans gun owners she spoke to didn't say they've experienced any harassment from other gun owners. One of them said they've "gotten a lot of weird looks but no outright hostility so far," which once again undercuts the New Yorker's insinuation that that the Second Amendment movement has embraced the idea of a trans gun ban.
Are there gun owners out there who support that idea? Of course. There are roughly 80-million gun owners in the United States, and they're far from monolithic in their views... or even their view of what the Second Amendment entails. There are Fudds who want to ban commonly owned semi-automatic firearms, so it doesn't surprise me that some gun owners believe the Second Amendment doesn't apply to transgendered individuals or anyone else they believe is mentally ill, including Democratic voters.
I think, though, that most Second Amendment supporters understand what a terrible idea this is, regardless of how they feel about transgender issues. Declaring an entire class of people mentally ill and therefore unable to exercise their Second Amendment rights is a recipe for mass disarmament. There are plenty of anti-gun Democrats who would be thrilled to use this playbook the next time they're in charge of the federal government to target MAGA voters, Christian nationalists, and anyone else they deem crazy.
Byron could and should have highlighted the broad opposition from Second Amendment organizations to the proposed ban instead of falsely suggesting that the gun rights movement is backing the idea. There's no shortage of quotes from individuals like NAGR's Dudley Brown, Second Amendment Foundation's Kostas Moros, and even myself that Byron could have shared with her audience.
Was Byron concerned that by accurately portraying the 2A movement's reaction to the proposal she'd make these individuals and organizations appear reasonable and rational? Whatever her motivation for her non-reporting, the result is a skewed report that doesn't tell the whole story... and leaves the false impression that Second Amendment activists are okay with a trans gun ban.
