The Trump administration misfires on the Second Amendment
By: David Harsanyi
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Unlike a lot of people on social media, I've yet to complete a forensic investigation into the videos of the tragic shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Even if I did, I wouldn't possess enough information to make definitive statements about the legal justification for the shooting. You probably don't, either.
But if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers felt their lives were threatened by Pretti, who had a Minnesota concealed carry permit for weapon, the administration has a responsibility to make that case without spreading misinformation about the Second Amendment and scaremongering about "loaded" "semiautomatics" and "extra magazines," which virtually every Trump official who's commented on the shooting has done.
"I don't know of any peaceful protesters that show up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told ABC News, "I've been to a protest. Guess what? I didn't bring a gun. I brought a billboard." FBI Director Kash Patel added, "You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have that right to break the law."
Even President Donald Trump, who promised an investigation and seemed far less certain about the validity of the shooting of Pretti, told reporters, "You can't have guns … You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that."
But you can. It's perfectly legal for someone with a concealed carry license to bring a firearm to a protest. Carrying alone isn't proof that Pretti, or anyone else, was "a would-be assassin," as deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller had initially declared, or that he was there to "massacre law enforcement," as "commander at large" Greg Bovino said. Unless we have precrime technology or hard evidence, there was no way to know his intentions.
It's also legal for a concealed carrier to carry extra magazines. Some states ban"high-capacity" magazines, but none ban concealed carriers from bringing extra ones. In every state but California, in fact, a concealed carry holder can bring more than one gun and an extra magazine for each of them if they please. In Minnesota, a peaceful protester could even open carry a gun with a permit at a protest.
And almost all concealed carriers have "loaded" weapons — probably with one in the chamber. Otherwise, what is point?
Whether a man who reportedly broke his rib in an altercation with ICE only a week earlier was knowingly throwing himself into an already volatile situation with police carry. I suspect most responsible gun owners and conceal-carry instructors would tell you that's a terrible, potentially tragic, idea. It still doesn't mean he can't, as so many Trump administration officials have claimed, with any legal basis. At the same time, it's laughable watching Democrats such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) cynically feign concern about the Second Amendment rights of anti-ICE activists. If it were up to the California governor, Americans wouldn't be allowed to own semiautomatic firearms in their own homes much less carry them to a protest.
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Where are the body cam vids?...
Should read: The Trump administration misfires on the Second Amendment AGAIN!!