Alex Pretti’s shooting exposes Conservative voices who defended guns at protests—until the protester wasn’t theirs.
A few hours after Alex Pretti—a 37-year-old VA ICU nurse and licensed concealed-carry holder—was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis, something unusual happened in American gun politics: the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America publicly demanded a full investigation into the killing of a lawful gun owner by law enforcement, even as Trump administration officials were insisting he had it coming because he was armed.
It followed a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney suggesting officers are “legally justified“ to shoot anyone if they “approach law enforcement with a gun.“ Minnesota Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that, by all indications, Pretti was “a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,“ and—crucially—carrying a permitted pistol in public is legal in Minnesota. Even failing to display that permit on demand is a petty misdemeanor with a maximum $25 fine for a first offense. The state where this happened explicitly treats breaches as a traffic ticket-level infraction, not a death sentence. Against this, a movement that has long wrapped itself in the Second Amendment when the gun owner is on “its side“ suddenly reached for law-and-order caveats when the lawful carrier was a protester they disliked. Common Knowledge On the right, several of the loudest voices blamed Pretti’s gun. Kash Patel, the FBI director, told Fox viewers: “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest or rally in any state. You don’t have that right.“ Gregory Bovino, the senior Border Patrol official who was the ICE commander in Minneapolis, put it even more bluntly in a cable hit: “Why would you bring a semi-automatic weapon to a riot?“ Trump-appointed U.S. attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.“ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the victim “came with weapons and ammunition“ and described the scene as “an act of domestic terrorism.“ President Donald Trump also defended the agents and attacked “corrupt Minnesota politicians,“ writing: “In Minnesota, there is too much media attention on ICE… and not enough attention paid to the staggering sums of money stolen from the State.“ Uncommon Knowledge Now contrast those judgments with the same movements earlier messages on guns. After school massacres, Trump urged more guns in the hands of “good guys.“ In his 2022 address to the NRA—days after Uvalde—he reprised the line: “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,“ and called to “finally allow highly trained teachers to“ carry concealed in schools. And after armed activists swarmed the Michigan statehouse in 2020, he called them “very good people“ and told the governor to “make a deal.“ Guns at a protest were, then, not a provocation for him. The right has also spent years lionizing January 6 defendants—some of whom assaulted police—casting them as political prisoners. At an Ohio rally, Trump saluted as a recording by jailed January 6 participants played and later called them “unbelievable patriots,“ reiterating his vow to help them “the first day we get into office.“ One of them, Christopher Alberts, took a loaded handgun to the riots, and he was also dressed in body armor and carried a gas mask, according to Reuters. That is the biggest example, but not the only one. Trump previously praised Missouri’s governor for pardoning Mark and Patricia McCloskey after they waved guns at marchers outside their St. Louis mansion . He repeatedly suggested Kyle Rittenhouse “acted in self-defense,“ insisting the teen “was in very big trouble“ without the rifle he carried to a Kenosha protest. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has hit back on the Pretti case, telling reporters, “You know what you saw.“ His attorney general, Keith Ellison, emphasized state law: carrying with a permit is legal. Criticism isn't only from the left. Representative Thomas Massie, the Republican from Kentucky, wrote, “Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a constitutionally protected God-given right.“ In Minnesota, a person with a valid permit may carry a pistol in public. If a permit holder fails to display the card upon a lawful demand from an officer, that violation is a petty misdemeanor and—on a first offense—carries a fine “not exceed $25.“ Nothing in that provision outlaws simply attending a protest while armed. Indeed, Minnesota is one of several “shall-issue“ states with broad public-carry rights, even in politically charged spaces, subject to specific location bans. Multiple videos appear to show agents removing a handgun from Pretti’s waistband moments before the fatal shots—undercutting any claim that he was armed when they fired. It also undercuts Patel’s televised claim that you “cannot bring a firearm…to any sort of protest…in any state,“ which is simply false in Minnesota and many other jurisdictions. The deeper story is how conflicting public opinion makes this pivot possible. On the one hand, Republicans say guns make civilians safer: in Pew’s 2023 survey, 79 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said gun ownership increases safety, while nearly the same share of Democrats said it decreases safety. That belief has long powered GOP resistance to new restrictions. Johns Hopkins’ National Survey of Gun Policy finds enduring skepticism among gun owners about restricting where people can carry, including at demonstrations—only about 39 percent of gun owners supported banning open carry at rallies when first asked in 2021, and preferences have not radically shifted since. That makes it harder to square the claim that Pretti’s mere presence with a lawful pistol—without menacing behavior—made deadly force reasonable. On the other hand, conservatives are also the party of aggressive policing—especially against protests they oppose. In a 2025 Washington Post/Schar School survey about sending federal troops to quell protests in Los Angeles, “nearly 9 in 10 Republicans“ supported deployment. That preference for force over dissent sits awkwardly beside the movement’s claim that ubiquitous armed self-defense is what keeps communities safe. None of this proves the specific shooting was unlawful. That requires a full investigation. But it does expose a national habit of treating the Second Amendment as a team jersey. When “our“ guy is armed, the gun is deterrence; when “their“ guy is armed, the gun is provocation. That is a politics of friends and enemies, not of rights. If you’re enjoying Uncommon Knowledge, please share. If you have suggestions for future editions or feedback, email subscriber.feedback@newsweek.com. We want to hear your voice.
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