John M. Crisp: The fatal, hypocritical irony of Alex Pretti's gun

John M. Crisp, Tribune News Service on Feb 3, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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It’s not often that I agree with the National Rifle Association or with President Donald Trump. But last week I found myself agreeing with both at the same time:

After the shooting death of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Trump said, “You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that…Certainly, he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”

The NRA and other gun-rights organizations took exception, noting that—in their view—the right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution and that Pretti had a legal permit to carry a weapon, in full compliance with Minnesota law.

The NRA was founded in 1871 according to sensible principles: It was pro-marksmanship, pro-gun training, pro-gun safety and pro-gun sports such as hunting and skeet shooting.

Since the late 1970s, however, the NRA has devoted itself to one essential principle: Pro-gun.

The Republican Party recognized an opportunity: Against a backdrop of mostly manufactured fear for personal safety and the loss of gun rights, money flowed from the NRA to Republicans, and the party responded with pro-gun laws, which have produced a nation with more guns than people.

Across a national patchwork of laws and regulations, most Americans have the right to own high-powered, semi-automatic assault rifles, large-capacity magazines, silencers and other ballistic accoutrements that make killing on a large scale within reach of every citizen.

And 45 states permit citizens to carry their firearms openly.

So, the NRA is right: Pretti was clearly within his rights to carry a firearm on the day he was killed.

The hypocritical irony is stunning: A right that Republicans have fought hard for and supported when right-wing protestors show up at rallies and protests openly displaying an armamentarium worthy of a small militia is suddenly denied when a member of the left shows up at a protest exercising the same right.

The irony is extended by the increasing emphasis by the NRA and Republican lawmakers on the “right of the people to keep and bear Arms” as a constitutional protection for citizens in case the federal government becomes overly authoritarian and tyrannical.

As Texas Representative Chip Roy put it: the Second Amendment is “designed purposely to empower the people to be able to resist the force of tyranny used against them.”

Pretti could be forgiven if he imagined that that was precisely what he was doing.

So, Trump was wrong when he said “You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that.” Of course you can. The NRA and Republicans have ensured that right.

But I agree with Trump when he added, regarding Pretti, “Certainly, he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.” Well, probably.

The idea that a well-armed citizenry could resist an oppressive federal government by force may have made some sense in 1789. But the notion that citizens, no matter how well armed, can stand up to a dangerously empowered executive branch that enjoys the support of our military is mostly a fantasy of right-wing militia wannabes and politicians.

I doubt very seriously that Pretti had armed resistance in mind when he attended the Jan. 24 protest in Minneapolis. But that doesn’t mean that others won’t buy into the Second Amendment myth propagated by the right.

And that’s a chief danger of overly militarized ICE and National Guard units patrolling the streets of American cities. It’s entirely predictable that someone will see violence as a legitimate response to the burgeoning authoritarianism of the Trump administration. Someone could get shot.

If anyone reading this column is thinking along those lines, please, please, please do not act. Not only will mortal violence against ICE units be immoral and futile, it will be counterproductive, providing Trump with the excuse he wants and needs to invoke the Insurrection Act.

No, this struggle will be won by a modern version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolence: protest, resistance, direct appeals to lawmakers, discourse and discussion. And above all, voting. This is how we do things in a legitimate republic. As long as we can keep it.

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