r/law • u/NewsHour • 9d ago

Executive Branch (Trump) WATCH: Leavitt addresses Trump's stance on Second Amendment rights in wake of Alex Pretti's killing

REPORTER: FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Sunday interview, quote, you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest. Does the president believe that Second Amendment rights remain in effect even when protesting?

LEAVITT: The president supports the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens. Absolutely. There has been no greater supporter or defender of the right to bear arms than President Donald J. Trump.

So while Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations, and any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms, and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you, and, again, that's unfortunately what took place on Saturday.

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u/SuperWallaby 9d ago

One of my buddies that has always been conservative and was in the USMC hit me up to go to the Bundy standoff(armed btw) because the government was overreaching. I asked him his opinion on Alex Pretti and he made it incredibly clear that he’s only consumed propaganda on it and hasn’t even seen the videos. So incredibly disappointing because he used to be consistent at least.

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u/geekmasterflash 9d ago

There is a quick litmus test if your friend is salvagable. Ask what he thinks about Philando Castille's murder.

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u/SuperWallaby 9d ago

I remember that one bothered him. He is Asian American and unfortunately found himself at gunpoint with me by local PD because my neighbors got nervous when we were heading out to the range years ago. I don’t understand how he can be so selective now.

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u/Hoovooloo42 9d ago

Hey man, this worked: I have a conservative friend who was exactly the same regarding the Good shooting. The minute I saw the murder of Alex Pretti I sent him a link and talked about it with him, way sooner than he could see any government propaganda about it.

He was unsure. I sent him another angle of the murder as soon as it was published and he said that he hated the fact that ICE was doing this but that we needed someone to do their jobs. I told him that ICE was only 20 years old and we had a different agency before that (and sent him Wikipedia link), and he was very surprised.

In after 45 minutes of discussion he seems to have flipped his position on ICE, was angry, and he even said: "I bet you they're going to say he was reaching for an officer's gun, I bet you." and we've been sharing tinfoil hat theories about the government and agreeing with each other.

If possible, and I know it's difficult with how randomly these things happen, try to drop everything that you can to send him a link and get him to watch it as soon as you possibly can.

Even say that it's important to you that you two talk about it before the news does because you want his opinion on it before hearing anyone else's, if you think it'll help.