Article Info
The Pretti Shooting: A Test for Gun Rights

Photo: United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Public Domain)
| Scope | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Federal / Minnesota |
| Impact | national |
| Key Entities | |
| CCW permit holder and ICU nurse shot by federal agents | Alex Pretti |
| Federal agency whose Border Patrol agents were involved in the shooting | Department of Homeland Security (DHS) |
| DHS Secretary who called Pretti a 'domestic terrorist' | Kristi Noem |
| First Assistant U.S. Attorney who stated approaching law enforcement while armed may justify lethal force | Bill Essayli |
| Minnesota Attorney General calling situation 'uncharted territory' | Keith Ellison |
| Leading the investigation into the shooting | FBI |
| Gun rights organization condemning the administration's position | NRA |
| Gun rights organization condemning the shooting as a Second Amendment violation | Gun Owners of America |
| Legal Issues | |
| |
| What It Means | |
| |
| Timeline | |
| January 25, 2025 | Alex Pretti shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis while carrying with valid CCW permit |
| Related Laws | |
The Pretti Shooting: A Test for Gun Rights
Industry news and analysis
From The Boise Gun Club Handbook
A licensed CCW holder was shot at least ten times by federal agents in Minneapolis on January 25—after being disarmed and pinned face-down on the pavement.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is now arguing that legally carrying near law enforcement is grounds for lethal force. That affects every gun owner in America.
What Happenededit

Alex Pretti, 37, was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital. He lived less than two miles from where he died.
He was recording Border Patrol agents on his phone. When he saw one knock a woman to the ground, he moved to help her up.
Within seconds: pepper-sprayed, tackled by six or seven agents, disarmed, shot.
The timing: Watch the video. An agent removes Pretti's firearm and steps away. About one second later—while Pretti is still face-down—a shot is fired.
- Then a pause. About three seconds.
- Then nine more shots in rapid succession.
What that pattern tells you: If this were a controlled shoot—an intentional decision to neutralize a threat—you'd expect tight grouping. Shoot until the threat stops. That's training.
One shot, a pause, then a mag dump? That's the pattern of something going wrong followed by panic fire.
The first shooter was positioned directly behind Pretti. He would have had eyes on the disarm.
Minneapolis PD confirmed Pretti had a valid carry permit. No serious criminal history. His weapon was still holstered when he was tackled.
Click to enlarge
Federal agents on Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis. Photo: Chad Davis / CC BY 4.0
The Official Story vs. The Footageedit
What DHS said: Secretary Kristi Noem called Pretti a "domestic terrorist" who came to "inflict maximum damage."
What the video shows: A guy with a cell phone trying to help a woman off the ground.
- He never drew
- He never brandished
- He was disarmed when he was killed
The dangerous part: First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted that "if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you."
Not draw on law enforcement. Approach them—while legally carrying.
2A Groups Noticededit
Gun rights organizations across the political spectrum recognized the threat immediately.
The NRA called Essayli's statement "dangerous and wrong"—a rare rebuke of a Trump administration official. Gun Owners of America condemned it as an affront to the Second Amendment. Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center said "You don't have to pick between which rights you exercise."
Between the lines: When the NRA and the Liberal Gun Club issue joint condemnations, something significant just happened.
The Contradictionedit

The contradiction: The same administration is arguing both sides of the Second Amendment.
Last week, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to strike down Hawaii's carry restrictions—a Second Amendment violation, they argued.
This week, the same administration says a man legally carrying in an open-carry state brought his death upon himself.
The bottom line: Either Americans have the right to carry firearms in public, or they don't. You can't argue both.
What's Nextedit
The FBI is leading the investigation. A federal judge issued a TRO requiring DHS to preserve evidence.
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison called it "uncharted territory."
Go deeper: Video evidence has been verified by Reuters, BBC, WSJ, AP, and CNN. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara confirmed the permit status. Multiple 2A organizations have called for investigation.
The Bigger Questionedit
A community member put it better than I can:
"A 'good guy' with a gun—legally owned and permitted—was protecting an unarmed woman from a masked agent of the federal government. This scenario is literally a combination of every major defense that 2A folks have made since Columbine. If the 2A community cannot stand on principle in this instance, then their principled arguments deserve to be ignored in the future."
This isn't about Pretti's politics or whether you'd have been at that protest.
It's about whether "legally carrying near law enforcement" is now de facto justification for lethal force. That's a question every CCW holder needs to think about.
This is opinion. Review the video and form your own conclusions.
Related:
- Phils Custom Handloads(Swartz Creek, MI)
- Gls Guns(Sumner, IA)
- J & L Gunsmithing(Chesapeake, VA)
- Oliver Firearms(Spartanburg, SC)
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