Jan. 29, 2026, 6:04 a.m. ET
- Donald Trump’s stance on the Second Amendment is under scrutiny following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers.
- Trump stated that Pretti should not have brought a gun to a protest, a comment that has drawn criticism from gun rights groups.
- Despite a history of campaigning on gun rights, Trump’s comments on the Pretti case appear to depart from his party’s typical position.
President Donald Trump‘s stance on gun rights and the Second Amendment has been thrust into the spotlight after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
On Jan. 24, Pretti was at an immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis when he was wrestled to the ground, shot and killed by Border Patrol officers. Federal officials have defended the shooting of the Pretti, an ICU nurse who treated veterans, saying he brought a gun to the protest to “kill law enforcement.” Bystander footage shows Pretti holding his phone, not a gun, before being wrestled to the ground.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti was “exercising his First Amendment rights to record law enforcement activity and also exercising his Second Amendment rights to lawfully be armed in a public space in the city.”
Trump himself has also criticized Pretti for bringing a gun to a protest, a departure from his party’s longstanding support for Second Amendment rights. Here is what he has said about the shooting:
Did Trump say, ‘you can’t have guns?’
Yes, but it was part of a longer answer.
Talking to reporters on Jan. 27, Trump was asked if he thought Pretti was acting as an assassin.
“No,” he said. “With that being said, you can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns, you just can’t….it’s just a very unfortunate incident.”
What has Donald Trump said about the 2nd Amendment?
Trump and Republicans have long supported gun rights. Notably, they publicly supported Kyle Rittenhouse who went to protests in 2020 with an AR-15 rifle, saying he planned to protect a business, and shot three people, killing two. He argued self defense was acquitted of all charges.
Powerful gun rights group the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund endorsed Trump in each of his three elections. In 2024, the group said in a statement Trump would be a “powerful champion…who always fought for our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”
Trump talked up his support for gun rights often during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“I was proud to be the most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president you’ve ever had in the White House, I think that’s been acknowledged, and with your support in 2024, I will be your loyal friend and fearless champion once again as the 47th president of the United States,” Trump said at an NRA meeting in Indianapolis in 2023. He also frequently said on the campaign trail that former Vice President Kamala Harris was trying to take guns away (that is not true; Harris touted being a gun owner herself.)
Though in his first term, Trump’s support for the Second Amendment came under scrutiny, as he signaled support for gun reform legislation, flip-flopped on stronger background checks, and banned bump stocks, ABC NEWS reported. Though the NRA still endorsed Trump in 2020.
What did Trump say about Alex Pretti?
Video suggests Pretti had a gun on his waist, though he was tackled down before the agents realized it was there and was disarmed before the agents opened fire.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it…But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Trump has also said he wants to see what comes of federal investigations into Pretti’s death before passing judgment and has said he will “de-escalate” the situation in Minneapolis.
Comments that Pretti shouldn’t have had his gun with him have rankled gun rights groups.
“The NRA unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be,” the NRA said on Jan. 27.
“The President is simply wrong,” Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in a statement. “While we agree you can’t interfere with law enforcement, you absolutely have the right to carry the tools for self-defense while lawfully protesting. In fact, that’s precisely the kind of place where exercising that right matters most.”
Even Rittenhouse posted on X saying, “carry everywhere. It is your right.”
Contributing: Joey Garrison, BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her onX (Twitter),Bluesky andTikTok.
