Justice Department leadership is prepared to use its rule-making authority to declare transgender people as mentally ill and deprive them of their Second Amendment right to possess firearms, according to two Justice officials who shared internal discussions with CNN.Deliberations at the highest levels of the DOJ follow the recent mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, an attack police say was carried out by a 23-year-old former student at the churchs school who may have been a transgender person or a de-transitioned individual. Two children were killed in the attack, and 21 others were injured. Related Pam Bondi subpoenas doctors & clinics that provide trans health care Trump has already barred transgender people from serving in the military and ordered federal prisons to house transgender inmates in facilities aligning with their sex at birth. His executive orders have called trans identity a mental disorder that is selfish, dishonorable, deceitful, and undisciplined.Those orders, along with challenges to school districts over trans student-athletes, bathroom bans, and barring gender-affirming care for trans minors, are part of a concerted effort to erase trans identity from the federal government and American society at large. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Trumps Justice Department and MAGA allies are now exploiting a trope of their own making to further curtail the rights of trans Americans: the unfounded claim that many mass shootings are carried out by trans assailants.According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, among mass shootings over the last decade where four or more people were shot or killed, only about 0.11% of known suspects were transgender individuals. A U.S. Secret Service analysis of mass public attacks from 2016 to 2020 found that attackers were overwhelmingly men (96%), followed by women (3%), with transgender people accounting for 2%. A blanket Justice Department finding that all transgender people are mentally defectivea requirement before stripping individuals of their right to own firearms would be a dramatic escalation of Trumps assault on trans Americans.Following the mass shooting in Minneapolis, Trumps MAGA allies claimed gender dysphoria should bar citizens from purchasing a firearm, citing its inclusion in the American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM.But health care professionals assessment of gender dysphoria has evolved: In 2018, it was reclassified as gender incongruence, a condition where an individuals experienced gender differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, without necessarily being a mental disorder. The goal of the potential ban, according to one DOJ official who spoke with CNN, is to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell.Attorney General Pam Bondi has been at the forefront of weaponizing federal agencies against transgender Americans, in concert with the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, and even the Agriculture Department.But DOJs effort to take guns from trans Americans could run up against right-wing Second Amendment purists. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously overturned a gun bump stock ban and state laws restricting gun ownership, arguing that they unconstitutionally restrict peoples Second Amendment rights. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.