Carrying Legal: When Rights Become Suspicion

A Minneapolis man was fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents at a protest last Saturday. Alex Pretti had a carry permit, a holstered 9mm, and never drew it. Federal officials called him a "domestic terrorist" anyway—and kept pointing to the gun.

That should bother every permit holder in Idaho.

Reality check: Video shows Pretti never reached for his weapon. Agents didn't even see the holstered gun until after they'd already tackled him—and by the time shots were fired, an agent had already removed it. None of that stopped DHS from framing his lawful carry as the central threat.

Federal officials have been remarkably direct about where they stand. FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Pretti's carry was illegal. It wasn't. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned that approaching law enforcement with a gun means "there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you." President Trump stopped short of that, but told the Wall Street Journal he was troubled that Pretti showed up to a protest with a "fully loaded gun with two magazines."

That's a description of half the people at any gun show in Ada County.

"The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon." — Gun Owners of America, responding to Essayli's comments

What they're saying: The groups most aligned with Trump aren't staying quiet.

• Gun Owners of America condemned Essayli's comments directly and by name.
• The NRA called his statement "dangerous and wrong"—pointed language from an organization that rarely picks fights with Republican officials.

Yes, but: This friction didn't start with Pretti. The Trump DOJ is actively defending the federal ban on gun ownership for nonviolent felons—a position the NRA says is unconstitutional. They're also defending the law that strips gun rights from cannabis users in legal states, which the NRA has called "unjust." A floated proposal to ban gun ownership by transgender people alarmed Second Amendment groups before apparently dying quietly.

The bottom line: An administration can launch a Second Amendment litigation project and still, in practice, treat a holstered carry permit as probable cause. Pretti's permit was issued by Minnesota and recognized under the same constitutional framework that covers every one of us. If carrying legally to a protest is grounds for official suspicion—or worse, a justification for a shooting—then the promise of support from Washington is worth less than the paper your permit is printed on.