Trump’s mixed record on firearms returns in the middle of the DOJ transgender debate

Recent reports according to which the Ministry of Justice weighs new restrictions on the possession of firearms for transgender persons has alarmed firearound rights groups and submitted the file of President Donald Trump to the second amendment to the spotlight.

Trump’s opinions on Americans’ right to carry weapons has changed over the past two decades as a public figure, marrying a complicated – and sometimes contradictory – relationship with the second amendment and the defenders of firearms who support the president.

At the end of last week, the National Rifle Association took shade of these reports, indicating to Fox News Digital in a statement that the group “supports the rights of the second amendment to all laws that respect the laws to buy and use firearms”.

NRA “does not support and will not support the policy proposals which implement fire -weapons prohibitions which arbitrarily exceed citizens respectful of their Second amendment Rights without regular procedure, “he said.

The Attorney General Pam Bondi promises to bring the Doj back to its “basic function”

President Donald Trump speaks alongside the FIFA World Cup trophy in the White House Oval Office, Friday August 22, 2025, in Washington, DC (Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo)

It is not clear if the Trump administration goes ahead with these restrictions, which officials of the Ministry of Justice underlined to Fox News Digital last week were not officially advanced by the Department.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt described comments as “very preliminary and low level discussions” at the Ministry of Justice at a press conference on Tuesday.

It is “a political decision, and it’s far too early” to weigh at this stage, she said.

One source said last week to Fox News Digital that DOJ’s discussions on the prohibition of transgender people to buy or have firearms involved the legal advisers’ office, which provides legal advice to the executive branch. The source indicated that the officials of the DoJ are currently weighing an achievable legal framework.

Such discussions probably extend to the office of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives (ATF), included in the leadership structure of the Doj, and which has authority over federal rules concerning firearms.

On the campaign campaign in 2016 and 2024, Trump presented himself as a fervent supporter of the second amendment. His record for the first mandate, however, was mixed. He often clashed with defenders of firearms on ATF policies and his past remarks on the checks of the universal history, in particular after mass shots.

After the Parkland High School shooting in 2018, Trump initially declared that he would plan to increase the minimum age for rifles purchases to 21 years, and supported “taking firearms (and passing) thanks to a regular procedure in second position”. He then retreated this assertion.

He also suggested support for “solid checks” after other mass shots, including in El Paso. However, he refused to pursue such legislation after the pressure of the NRA and the conservative groups.

While looking for his second presidential term, Trump positioned himself as the “most pro-Gun president of all time”.

This is a change in Trump’s opinions on the second amendment of previous decades, which were much more moderate compared to his opinions before his two elections in the White House.

ATF Chief Counsel was dismissed by Bondi in the last reshuffle of the Ministry of Justice

A flag of the thin blue line, the signaling support for the police, is displayed above the sign of the National Rifle Association (NRA) outside its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, May 31, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images)

In his 2000 book “The America We wonders”, Trump suggested the ban on so-called “assault weapons” and supported a waiting period to buy firearms.

Trump wrote: “Democrats want to confiscate all firearms, which is a stupid idea because only laws respecting laws would send their weapons and the bad guys would be the only ones to arm.”

“The Republicans walk (the) NRA line and even refuse limited restrictions.”

Consequently, he said: “I generally oppose the control of firearms, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to buy a firearm.”

“With today’s internet technology, we should be able to say within sixty-two hours if an owner of potential firearms has a record,” he added.

In a separate book in 2015, “Cripppled America”, Trump – then with an eye on the republican presidential primary – adopted a very different vision of firearms.

President Donald Trump speaks to NRA members before his second term during the group’s major outdoor outdoor show on February 9, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Reuters)

He argued that the periods of waiting for the firearms which he had previously approved had “accomplished very little” and rather introduced “more government regulations in the situation”, which he hinted unnecessary.

He then described himself in an interview as a “very large person of the second amendment” and obtained the approval of the NRA in May 2016. He also won the group’s approval in the 2020 and 2024 elections.

The NRA approved Trump in May 2024 shortly before going on stage at the group’s annual meeting in Texas.

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There, he urged the owners of firearms to vote, promising to “back down” the fiery weapons control policies in the Biden era and to claim that the protections of the second amendment were “besieged” under the Biden-Harris administration.

“We have to vote on the owners of firearms,” ​​Trump told the crowd in Texas at the time. “I think you are a rebellious group. But let’s be rebels and vot this time.”

Ashley Oliver of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.