Newsmax host objects after his guest says “I don't think that people should be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they're transgender”
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From the February 17, 2026, edition of Newsmax's Carl Higbie Frontline
CARL HIGBIE (HOST): I mean, not to, like, belittle the situation, but the last time the U.S. Government put in a suicide hotline, they did it for the V.A. And 33% -- a third of the calls went unanswered.
CAM EDWARDS (GUEST): Yeah. You know, and again, Carl, I -- you know, Rhode Island already has, as you say, some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. Right? They've got a ban on large capacity magazines. They just passed a ban on so-called assault weapons. They've got a red flag law. They've got waiting periods. Maybe the governor will call for more gun control in the future. But I got to go back to something that you and AWR were talking about here, because I want to make it clear that I don't think that people should be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they're transgender.
HIGBIE: I do, I do.
EDWARDS: Well, then you and I disagree because once we go down that road, we're saying that, you know, anybody that we believe is mentally ill, regardless of whether or not they've been adjudicated as mentally defective -- and that would include you, Carl. A lot of folks on the left would say you don't deserve your Second Amendment rights because they think you're crazy. I think that is a dangerous road to go down.
HIGBIE: You're right. It's a dangerous road. But when you have this capacity -- AWR I got 30 seconds for you here. You have to look at it as a mental illness. And that is something that is -- really needs to be looked at.
AWR HAWKINS (GUEST): Right. And I would notice that governor's carrying water for the trans community. He didn't criticize. He didn't point out that this individual was trans, as so many people have avoided. But transgenderism to me is a form of mental illness. So we already ban people with mental illness from owning guns. I don't see a problem with trying to keep them out of the hands of trans people who say they may go beserk.
EDWARS: We ban people who are adjudicated as mentally ill, Doctor Hawkins. We don't ban everybody on depressants -- or antidepressants from owning a gun.
HIGBIE: Yeah, I mean, it. It's a debate that needs to be had. I will say that.