MAGA vs. the Second Amendment

Alex Pretti's death has sparked a new faultline

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A few days ago, federal agents tackled a man who was observing them, beat him, and removed the weapon he was legally carrying (and which he had not touched) from its holster. After disarming him, they shot him repeatedly. Alex Pretti was an American citizen and a nurse at a veterans’ hospital.

Since this killing, a lot of attention has focused on his gun. The first reaction of a European to hearing about this sequence of events might be “oh my god, he had a gun, he must have been up to no good!” But that is not the case. Carrying a holstered pistol is legal in Minnesota, and Pretti had a license for his gun. He was perfectly within his rights to be carrying it.

Of course, in the United States, the right to keep and bear arms - the Second Amendment - is a pretty big deal to a lot of people, especially conservatives. So when various figures in the Trump regime suggested that CBP agents had been justified in shooting Pretti because he was carrying a holstered weapon, they provoked outrage from gun rights activists - people who are usually on the same page as the White House about pretty much anything.

First there was FBI director Kash Patel, who told Fox News that “you cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want”. Dead wrong, replied the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and the group Gun Owners of America - you’re legally entitled to bring a gun to a protest.

Then a Trump-appointed district attorney waded in, arguing that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you”. This drew a rebuke from the National Rifle Association, one of the most prolific and important right-wing groups in America, which replied that “This sentiment … is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens”.

The problem that the Trump regime has is that it is clear from abundant video evidence that Pretti was not handling his gun irresponsibly. He wasn’t waving it around, he wasn’t threatening anyone, in fact he wasn’t even touching it. He didn’t approach the federal agents - they piled on him. And he was disarmed of his holstered weapon by one of them before they murdered him.

The reason that this touches such a raw nerve, even with many people who usually support Trump’s agenda, is that this cuts to the core of what the Second Amendment is about. In the eyes of the right, the amendment’s whole legitimacy rests on the idea that it allows the populace to arm in order to protect itself against a tyrannical government.

This means that Pretti was doing exactly what Second Amendment advocates say they need guns for. And while gun rights advocates have been all too willing to keep quiet while federal agents were trampling on the rights of migrants and brown-skinned citizens, the murder of Pretti is a bridge too far.

Unfortunately, it’s not time to celebrate a wholesale split between the White House and gun advocates yet. But it’s notable that ICE/CBP’s outrages are becoming so hard to ignore that they’re increasingly drawing opposition not just from the left, but also from traditionally right-wing groups. The NRA is not about to flip and start fundraising for a new presidential bid by Kamala Harris, but its willingness to call out the regime increases pressure on Trump to change course and damages the credibility of key people in the regime among conservatives.

The whole sequence of events also reveals something more concerning - the fact that more and more people in America on both left and right are packing. Quietly, the idea of arming for self-defense has been gaining ground in left-wing circles for around a decade. Gun clubs have sprung up to serve LGBTQ people, black people, trans people, white liberals - anyone who fears they might one day be a target of violence from the Trump-ified federal authorities or right-wing militia. Nearly a third of self-identified liberals now live in a gun-owning household.

And while it’s hard to find fault with their fears, this is another reason why America’s knife-edge politics is so terrifying. What happens when things fall apart in a country in which hatred and fear have driven so many people to arm themselves?

Let’s hope that Alex Pretti’s death serves as a reminder of the importance of stepping back from the brink rather than pushing the country closer to it.