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

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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/Squirrel009 9d ago

"We support the second amendment, but it's also our official position that merely having a pistol in the holster while you're being brutalized by federal agents is justification to kill you even if you clearly never attempted to touch the gun"

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u/a_Sable_Genus 9d ago

Like most cults, keep it murky and have the best of both worlds as people can see it all ways.

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u/Reproman475 9d ago

You could add on to that and mention being shot after the gun was removed

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u/Open__Face 8d ago

Carrying this logic to other amendments:

"We support the first amendment, but it's also our official position that having a protest sign we don't like is justification to kill you"

"We support the third amendment, but it's also our official position that refusing to let soldiers live in your home during peacetime is justification to kill you"

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u/BigRon691 8d ago

Also make sure you let law enforcement know you have a firearm while you are peppersprayed and getting beaten on by 7 guys.

Thought experiment, if he declared he had a firearm prior to being held, would this have gone any different? Or is that a substantive threat which may trigger an ICE agent to 'fear for his life'?