DOJ weighs restrictions on firearm ownership by transgender people

The Justice Department has quietly weighed proposals to restrict transgender Americans from owning firearms in talks held after a deadly Minneapolis school shooting, prompting swift condemnation from LGBTQ advocates and gun rights groups and raising questions about legal and political fallout, officials and people familiar with the discussions said. The deliberations are in early stages and no formal plan has been finalized, the Justice Department said.

A DOJ spokesperson told reporters the agency is actively evaluating options to prevent what it described as a pattern of violence tied to individuals with certain mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders. Some Justice Department officials have discussed whether a broader executive declaration that transgender identity constitutes a mental illness could be used to bar firearms possession, according to people briefed on internal deliberations. Critics say such a move would conflate gender identity with mental illness and target a vulnerable minority.

The talks were prompted in part by a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis in late August, when a 23-year-old who identified as a transgender woman...