Gun ownership soars in liberal Minneapolis
By: Mark Swanson (Newsmax via MSN)
Apparently 'woke' was a wake up call.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Gun ownership has surged in Minneapolis and the surrounding Hennepin County since the unrest following the 2020 death of George Floyd and the crime wave that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Applications for permits to carry firearms in Hennepin County — which let Minnesotans carry a gun openly or concealed — nearly tripled in the years after 2020.
New gun owners came from across the political spectrum, including residents who previously opposed gun culture. Alex Pretti was among them.
Pretti was legally carrying a concealed 9 mm handgun last week in Minneapolis last month he protested against federal agents, according to the report.
Videos circulated on social media showing Pretti filming the agents before a confrontation unfolded on Jan. 24.
Agents appeared to deploy a chemical irritant at Pretti and another individual.
Moments later, Pretti was on the ground surrounded by several agents.
Video analysis by the Journal indicated that one agent appeared to remove a handgun from Pretti before he was shot at least 10 times.
On Friday, the Trump administration said it was expanding its investigation into Pretti's killing, including a review of evidence related to his firearm.
Pretti's status as a lawful gun owner — despite his opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his support for Democrat causes — has scrambled traditional political alignments, the report said.
Gun-rights groups have pushed back on the Trump administration's response, objecting to suggestions that Pretti should not have been armed at the protest.
His case highlights a striking reversal in a city long dominated by liberal politics.
Minneapolis remains overwhelmingly Democrat, but attitudes toward firearms shifted dramatically after 2020 — the same year city leaders and activists embraced the "defund the police" movement.
As protests spiraled into riots and widespread looting, and as police staffing plunged amid political pressure and morale collapse, many residents — including white, left-leaning homeowners who had supported cutting police budgets — concluded they could no longer depend on law enforcement for basic public safety.
As a result, firearm ownership became more common, even among liberals who once opposed it, according to the Journal.
That shift is visible across the city. A gun store catering specifically to left-leaning customers opened in South Minneapolis, a progressive neighborhood, reflecting a growing market for liberal gun owners, the report said.
Several left-leaning gun groups have also become more active.
After Pretti's killing, the Liberal Gun Club, which has a Minnesota chapter, issued a statement declaring that "the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental" and called for a thorough investigation.
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This ain't your Granddaddy's militia.
No, because my grandaddy fought Nazis
Then they and the “Liberal Gun Club” need to go back to a good CPL course and concentrate on the “responsibilities” portion of the course. Pretti’s action were nothing but irresponsible and stupid in that regard.
I would love to know what his expectations were in carrying to that event.
Just so I know what I’m dealing with here. Are you or have you ever been through, a CPL course? Apologies if I’ve already asked that.
Yeas ago in another state. I have not applied for a CPL in Minnesota. I was a firearms safety trainer when I as a member of Junior Achievement. We used air rifles for training, though.
Okay, good. We aren’t starting at ground zero then. My whole point doesn’t revolve around “could he” carry to that event. It revolves around “should he” have carried to that event. I say he exercised poor judgement in doing so.
It’s funny to me that some folks here that are usually very anti gun or at least not pro gun, are now here defending Pretti’s right to carry a gun. Something I’ve never refuted, his right to carry that is. But now suddenly they appear to be very pro second amendment.
To me it comes down to judgement and in my book he chose poorly. And it got him killed. Which is a whole other conversation.
Sure, continually hammer on a mistake in judgment by the victim while ignoring the outrageous abuse of lethal force by DHS.
The issue is that our government has masked, armed, poorly vetted, poorly trained agents en masse roaming the streets of our communities and have thus far killed two citizens who posed no threat to them.
As usual there is a plethora of hammers here to pound on Trump admin policy. No need to bloviate more on that here. Ever. Still waiting for an answer to my questions though.
Care to answer those questions or you going to keep avoiding them?
Going into an uncontrolled environment, for whatever reason, seems to be adequate justification for carrying a firearm. That's no different than carrying a taser or pepper spray for personal defense.
I contend that Alex Pretti exercised reasonable judgement. He wasn't just another yahoo carrying bling to intimidate or impress people. Pretti wasn't another Kyle Rittenhouse.
It's funny how real and present threats change attitudes. Interest in gun ownership has increased in Minneapolis following the George Floyd race riots of 2020. What we're observing can be traced to a response to 'woke' violence. Back in 2020 the protesters were the threat. Today ICE is the threat.
Competent, professional law enforcement would have handled the situation differently and Pretti would not have been killed. Who the hell fires a weapon into a pile on of officers? The agent was a buckaroo trying to prove his balls were as big as Trump's national treasures.
Trump miscalculated. Trump was trying to goad a reprisal of the 2020 race riots but it backfired on him. Trump was expecting chaos and not resolve. It is all too obvious DHS is putting agent's lives at risk by deploying them into the field with inadequate training. The ICE agents just stand around like a group of trainees without leadership. Are you aware that ICE agents are flagging each other on house raids? ICE agents are shooting each other with pepper balls because they lack muzzle discipline. ICE agents are getting blowback from their pepper spray because they deploy it at too close a range. These are field incidents that go unreported but its obvious in video footage. Or can't we believe our lying eyes?
If he has a legal right to carry, then it shouldn’t matter unless he actually threatens someone with his weapon. Do you agree with that? Or do you think law enforcement should harass or attack someone any time they see someone carrying.
Of course, here, they didn’t even see a gun.
To reiterate what I have said elsewhere, agents did not know he had a gun until he was already on the ground. They found it - not in his hand - but on his waist. So the fact that he was carrying is not relevant to him being tackled. As far as the agents knew, they were dogpiling on an unarmed man.
Pay attention. I clearly answered 2 and only the dead victim can answer 1.
You keep trying to blame the victim. Do you not recognize an outrageous use of lethal force?
We disagree. He exercised poor judgement imo and opinions can vary. Mine is based on decades of successful CPL ownership. Your opinion is based on what?
Do us all a favor and answer 2 again please and as far as 1 goes. Such things never stop you from making other judgements here daily. You’re judging the officer who shot Pretti. Why are you suddenly unwilling to pontificate on question 1?
He is responsible for his decision to carry that day. 100%. He doesn’t carry. He is likely alive today. A fact you can’t escape no matter how hard you try.
You are totally fixated on blaming the victim. This is a situation where one can argue that the dead man (Pretti) should have known better than to wear a legal gun because he was dealing with out-of-control, poorly trained agents who apparently think it is okay to cavalierly use lethal force on citizens.
But no matter what, the victim's judgment error (per your claim) is chickenshit compared to the grand failure of the DHS agents who riddled the man's body with 10 rounds when he was disarmed, defenseless, and beaten down on the ground. He never unholstered his weapon, never attacked these agents physically, yet he was brutally killed.
And you are here ignoring that profound difference and playing trollish games. It is disgusting.
Yes, classic NT gaslight special. When someone comes up with a valid counterpoint to a narrative you’re pushing (anti Trump Admin anything) you insult it, report it, call it trolling, taunting, etc, etc.
It’s sophomoric to defend a potential agitator with little understanding the responsibilities that come with a CPL. I repeat, carrying to that protest shows bad judgement. Carrying to that event with possible intent to agitate law enforcement actions is dimwit stupid.
Can’t make it any plainer for you.
What irresponsible thing did Pretti do with his gun?
He took it with him to a protest even tho he had a permit.....sarcasm
They don't like that a "lefty" has a firearm
I'm a big fan of the 2nd Amendment. That's why I have firearms.
Carrying to a protest where dozens and dozens of armed LEO’s are arresting people and then resisting/impeding those armed LEO’s, while armed yourself, is a fools errand. Irresponsible as hell. I mean what were his expectations? I’m still waiting for someone here to adequately answer that question. Did he think he was going to pull his weapon and somehow stop the proceedings? Ridiculous!
That said there is NO ONE here more pro 2nd amendment than me. NO ONE but anyone who took a well designed CPL course and paid attention, understands the heavy responsibilities that come with it. The key point being that a CPL is not carte blanche to a carry anywhere, anytime, do anything get out of jail free card. Good judgement should be exercised.
What Pretti did that day displayed poor judgement. He would be alive today had he chosen more wisely, not carried and just simply protested. Tough facts but facts just the same.
So? Lots of people brought weapons to the January 6 riot. Some had guns, knives, batons, bats, bear spray, pepper spray, stun guns. Except for the firearms and knives, all of these weapons were actually used on police officers. And only one person, who had a knife and was in the act of breaking through a door, was shot.
Resisting/Impeding them how? Pretti and others had been in that place for a while, doing nothing more than recording agents (who weren’t actually doing law enforcement anyway) with their phones. An agent had just thrown a woman to the ground and Pretti was trying to help her. As he tried to help her, an agent sprayed Pretti from behind - for no necessary reason that I can see.
As I said, he was doing video recording. That’s all. We have ample video (shot by others) of him doing exactly that and nothing more. If he wanted to pull his gun, he had a lot of time do it, but he never did.
Agents did not even know he had a gun until they tackled him and had him on the ground. Then they disarmed him, and shot him in the back.
Do you assume that rightwing conservative Trump supporters have better 'judgement' than liberals and progressives? When conservatives carry at protests Republicans are clear in their support for them, like Kyle Rittenhouse. Hell yeah! Patriotic Americans should show up at protests expressing their 2nd amendment rights, right? Who cares if they're waving their AR-15's in other protesters faces, their right to bear arms is sacrosanct! Right? But then a progressive shows up and doesn't even touch his gun, has his gun stripped out of his holster and then is shot at least 10 times while unarmed struggling on the ground and that's a conservatives 'righteous kill'.
Here's another MAGA gun owner that exemplifies their cause and is an example of what EVERY fucking one of them actually is:
Yep, another MAGAite who delusionally believes they're the good guy with a gun.
Why was that weapon loaded? One does not show another a weapon without making sure it's unloaded and the chamber is clear. Doesn't sound MAGA man knew a lot about firearms. But because he's MAGA he automatically assumed he knew everything there was to know
I think the most interesting part of the story is his reply when asked “How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?” and his reply was "it wouldn’t upset him much considering that he had two other daughters who lived with him". That's the fucking problem with MAGAites, they are willing to turn a blind eye to criminality, rape and sexual assault all because they believe their backs are getting scratched. They get their abortion bans, voter ID laws intentionally designed to disenfranchise eligible minority voters, a chance to feel like they're 'owning the libs', and in return they pledge allegiance to an accused child molester, admitted sexual predator, known adulterer, 34 time convicted felon and wannabe dictator. They're so fucking stupid they see Trump as a "win, win" all while he's robbing their wallets and they just smile and chuckle like it was their idea from the start. It's hard to even feel sorry for these sad white rightwing religious conservative losers anymore.
It's amazing that he acts like any of his children are expendable. How does that reconcile with the MAGA so-called family values. I really want to know but they ain't talking
He died trying to hold on to his phone after his weapon had been discovered and removed. there is no video evidence that he resisted the removal of his gun.
These people who say he was shot because he was carrying is like saying he was shot because he wore boxers instead of briefs, or that he was a Libra instead of a Taurus. None of this is information the agents had when they attacked him.
My respect for Rand Paul increased today as he had the DHS Senate Committee with the sub heads of DHS, CBP and ICE.
Senate panel hears from top immigration officials, state leaders on Minnesota surge
So Trump caved on the Nat Guard and the ICE Surges.
Now, to convict these murderers...
He died because he made a bad choice. He conceal carried to a protest and fought back when confronted by law enforcement.
He doesn’t carry, he’s alive today. Of that there is little doubt.
I would add one item in the middle, he got involved with a suspect the LEO's were planning on detaining.
Did you watch Rand Paul's hearing yesterday?
The films showed a man who retreated constantly but never fought back and continuously tried to help the two women ICE kept knocking down and face spraying with mace.
Even after Pretti was faced sprayed he continued to try to help the one woman to her feet.
Half the country disagrees and it seems that Pretti will get his day in court.
Shockingly, I disagree.
It didn't matter that Renne Good wasn't armed. She's dead too. It didn't matter that Marimar Martinez was unarmed, they shot her 5 times.
If you are saying that his being legally armed elevated the situation to an execution then that is damming proof of the ineptitude of those particular mace spraying ICE employees.
Hence, because they could not beat him into submission, as he was getting to his feet again, they fatally shot an unarmed man in the back three times followed by six more shots to the chest and neck.
They are incompetent.