The National Rifle Association posted a statement Friday opposing any "sweeping gun bans that arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process," later clarifying that it had intended to oppose a reported plan by President Donald Trump's administration to ban transgender people from owning guns.
The Department of Justice is reviewing ways to designate transgender people as mentally ill as a justification for restricting their rights to own, possess, and use guns, CNN reported on Thursday. The move comes in the wake of a shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota in late August that left two children dead and at least 21 wounded. The FBI identified the shooter as a 23-year-old transgender woman.
The Trump administration has taken a number of actions directed at transgender people, including an executive order the president signed during the first few days of his second term that banned transgender people from serving in the military.
The NRA's post was emphatic in its defense of broad Second Amendment rights -- even if the organization did not initially clarify what prompted the post.
"The Second Amendment isn't up for debate," said the caption.
"The NRA supports the Second Amendment rights of all law abiding Americans to purchase, possess and use firearms," the post continued. "NRA does not, and will not, support any policy proposals that implement sweeping gun bans that arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process."
CNN reporter Hannah Rabinowitz confirmed Friday afternoon that the NRA was responding to the reports that Trump's DOJ sought to ban transgender people from owning guns.
"There is no evidence to suggest transgender people are more likely to commit mass attacks," wrote Rabinowitz. "Data does show, however, that transgender people are far more likely to be the victims of a violent crime."
An analysis by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Association Center of mass shooting incidents in the U.S. between 2016 and 2020 found that 96% of shooters were men, 3% women, and 2% identified as transgender.
Later Friday, the NRA shared a tweet by a gun rights commentator sharing the organization's statement and describing it as the "NRA just came out against DOJ's 'Tran Ban' as well," and praising the "consistency" in this stance.