Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Won’t Say Whether He Classifies Transgenderism As ‘Psychological Disorder’ In Gun Grab Proposal
Under Tennesee Gov. Bill Lee’s sweeping new gun grab proposal, anyone who has a “psychological disorder” is eligible to lose their Second Amendment rights for 180 days or more but the Republican won’t clarify whether transgenderism is classified as a “psychological disorder.”
Lee’s proposed legislation endows a third party to accuse someone else of being a threat to themselves or others and prompt a state-led search, seizure, and evaluation. The accused will only have one hearing every 180 days to make a case for why they have a right to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights.
As Federalist Senior Editor David Harsanyi recently put it, Lee’s proposal “forces people accused of a precrime to sit down with state-appointed psychiatrists and lawyers and prove their innocence before the government decides if they can keep their guns.”
Federal law already prohibits people who have “been adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution” from buying guns from licensed federal firearms dealers. Lee, however, wants his state to broaden its gun laws to create a temporary “order of protection” against anyone the state determines has a “psychological disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence.”
For decades, global and U.S. medical institutions have classified transgenderism as a mental disorder. It was only in recent years that those institutions partnered with Big Tech and other forces to punish anyone who questions whether a serious discomfort with biological sex is a form of mental illness.
The Federalist asked Lee’s office to clarify what, according to his proposal, constitutes a “psychological disorder” and specify whether transgenderism would qualify for the gun and ammo grab but received no response.
Ever since a transgender shooter shot and killed three nine-year-old kids and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville in March, Tennessee Republicans have worked hard to protect students and their constituents’ constitutional rights.
On the federal level, Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee introduced a new bill that would funnel $900 million taxpayer dollars to both public and private schools to hire armed security and “harden” classrooms with enhanced physical defenses. On the state level, Tennesee Republicans workshopped bills to fund school security teams and punish their Democrat colleagues for their roles in a gun-control and transgender-themed insurrection.
Just a few weeks ago, Lee was leading and aiding these efforts. Now, he’s attempting to fend off praise from Democrats like President Joe Biden, who commended the GOP governor for “signing an Executive Order to expand background checks and calling on the Tennessee statehouse to pass a red flag law.”
“I hope more Republican officials will follow suit and take action,” Biden said in a statement.
While pushing for red flag laws, Lee refuses to prioritize fixing Tennesee laws that would have prevented this which is allowing Christian schools with preschools to arm their teachers. Under current state law, private kindergarten through 12th-grade schools can set their own handgun-carrying policies, but the law bars schools with pre-kindergarten or preschool programs from protecting themselves.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
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