Wow, Mr. President, you’ve really done the impossible. Never did I imagine I’d agree with a group like the National Rifle Association.
Perpetually terrified of losing loved ones to preventable tragedies, I never thought I could be on the same side of a debate as a group content to minimize the repeated killing of children: To define school shootings as unfortunate incidents not quite significant enough to adjust how the public accesses weapons of mass murder.
But somehow, I am. Because no, Mr. President, preventing the transgender community from having access to guns is not what we meant when we said enough is enough.
Since 2006, we have lost at least 2,592 people to mass shootings, according to the Washington Post’s most recent database. We have lost hundreds of children. As of Sept. 8, 2025, we have already seen nine mass killings with guns.
Of the deadliest shootings, 80% occurred with a semi-automatic rifle, yet we have made minuscule progress at restricting access to assault weapons at a large scale. Of mass shootings, 40% happened despite warning signs the shooter was having violent thoughts or making plans for the shooting, yet we’ve never succeeded in establishing large-scale Extreme Risk Protection Order laws.
And overwhelmingly, mass shootings are committed by white, cis-men. But only now – after the Minnesota school shooter last month was identified as transgender – will the Trump administration discuss any form of gun control.
Taking guns away from an already extremely oppressed community that has had nothing to do with the vast majority of mass shootings is not going to solve the problem. The transgender community, in fact, may be the community which needs the right for self-protection the most.
Transgender people are more than four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent crime. Between 2013 and 2024, at least 372 trans and gender-expansive individuals lost their lives due to violent hate crimes, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
For decades, conservative leaders have been willing to do nothing about the countless mass shootings committed by privileged cisgender individuals.
The White House’s sudden desire to have such a discussion after one incident that involved a transgender shooter says everything about the administration’s vehemence for the transgender community and nothing about its love for America’s children.
Up until now, thoughts and prayers were perfectly sufficient in keeping schools safe, weren’t they, Mr. President?
The lost lives of children will not be your scapegoat for discrimination.
