Trump’s pledge to restore and enhance immigration enforcement would never be easy. For decades, corrupt political interests have depended on open borders, mass immigration (legal and illegal), and a commitment to corrupt government largesse for migrants versus the rule of law.
Inevitably, left-wing activists would seize every opportunity to stop Trump’s deportation agenda, even if it meant violence, public disorder, destruction, or even death. One crazed Minnesota Karen, Renee Good, threw her life away to protect violent illegal migrants. Alex Pretti, a male Karen with a history of mental health issues, made a pretty dumb decision to block federal law enforcement, damaging one of their vehicles, then spitting at one of the officers.
In another altercation, he was shot and killed following his aggression. Many of the reports surrounding his death suggest that he pulled a firearm on the federal officers. Other reports state that he had the firearm at his side, but never took it out. Still other reports indicate that federal officials had already taken the firearm away before they shot him.
Much of the commentary surrounding the death of Alex Pretti has focused on his violent efforts to stop federal law enforcement from doing its job and their supposed illegal response. Those arguments must be hashed out in the public square. Contentions about whether the ICE officers went too far must also undergo rigorous scrutiny, but only when all the evidence has been released.
For now, I want to focus on the firearms issue. ICE drew out their firearms, and they killed Alex Pretti.
President Trump immediately fired off an opinion on the altercation, stating in his usual off-the- cuff manner: “He shouldn’t have been carrying a firearm.”
Then DHS Secretary Kristi Noem shot off her mouth, stating that Pretti should not have been carrying a firearm since he did not have the proper permit on him.
These are the wrong arguments to make in defense of the federal officers.
First, having a firearm on your person can never justify an official, state, or federal, firing at someone. Even if someone is engaging in criminal activity, like blocking the lawful enforcement of executive action by federal officials, they do not have a right to draw their firearm and kill a citizen just because the suspect has a gun at his side.
The standards for use of force must always be higher for law enforcement, no matter what the rank. The Second Amendment is about ensuring that the “right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The Bill of Rights is a limitation on the government, not the people, even if it’s bad people doing bad things. Provided that they are not brandishing the firearm, a suspect should not be killed by law enforcement.
Let me write this plainly: It’s not a crime to carry a firearm in and of itself.
Then there’s the argument that Minnesota protesters should not have carried a firearm because federal officers were present. That sentiment is even more offensive. The main reason why the Founders included the right to carry was to stand up to a tyrannical government. It’s not about fishing, hunting, or warding off robbers from your home. Every citizen should have the right to carry, especially when federal law enforcement officials are around. Just ask Ammon Bundy!
The second issue concerns the argument from DHS Secretary Noem: “He was not carrying his permit.”
That’s a good-faith argument to make for that situation. Laws should be respected, especially concerning firearms in the several states. At the same time, Republicans should not be lining up to demand that every law-abiding gun owner carry paperwork to permit them to carry a firearm. Noem’s off-hand comments give the impression that the Trump Administration is advocating for the permitting scheme to carry. For any gun rights advocate, that stance is untenable.
Early in his second administration, Trump and his Congressional supporters rightly sided with Rep. Hudson’s National Reciprocity Bill. No state should implement restrictive permitting regimes to frustrate one’s right to carry in another state. But why should anyone in the Trump administration advocate for the ongoing permitting regime in the first place? Twenty-nine states have already established constitutional carry, i.e., that their residents have a natural right to carry, and they don’t need a permission slip from the government to do so.
Granted, Noem wanted to use the legal pretext of Minnesota’s permitting regime to further protect her officers. But that is the wrong way to go about doing so. No one should be defending permit laws to carry firearms, but rather advocating for their repeal.
President Trump’s second term has been a steady stream of successes. Economic gains, mass deportations, lower crime rates, increased job opportunities, and funding cuts to left-wing organizations. When it comes to gun rights, he has earned the NRA endorsement for every election, and for the most part, his second administration has been gun-friendly and respectful of the Second Amendment.
However, we cannot ignore his first-term record, in which he discussed implementing red-flag laws with gun-grabbing US Senator Dianne Feinstein. In response to the Parkland, Florida mass shooting, he issued a brazenly unconstitutional bump-stock ban, which his Supreme Court nominees helped overturn just before his return to office. Even today, his staff has not worked effectively or aggressively to pass key legislation to ensure the full respect for the American citizens’ right to keep and bear arms.
Let’s assume that Trump and his executive team spoke out of haste to mitigate the PR damage surrounding Alex Pretti’s death. But they shouldn’t attack gun rights to defend the implementation of his broader MAGA agenda, either. The broad MAGA coalition should not sit idly by and allow the Trump Administration to attack gun rights—and in such a sloppy manner—all in the name of federal immigration enforcement, even if Trump is keeping his signature campaign promise to deport all the illegals, and Pretti made an ugly decision to confront law enforcement with a firearm on his person.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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