https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/28/trump-gun-rights-nra-alex-pretti-shooting/88384361007/
For years, Republicans including President Donald Trump have advocated for broad Second Amendment rights, arguing the right to bear arms means Americans are allowed to bring guns to virtually all public places.

They've often said more good guys with guns are needed to stop people with bad intentions. Trump hailed Kyle Rittenhouse as the "poster boy" for self-defense after the then-17-year-old shot three men, two fatally, during protests in 2020 Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Yet after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal authorities in Minneapolis, Trump has dramatically changed his tune, saying the 37-year-old nurse should not have been carrying a loaded firearm to a protest.

“You can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns. You can’t do that," Trump said on Jan. 27, even as he claimed he wants to reserve judgment on the Pretti case until federal investigations are concluded. "It's just a very unfortunate thing."

The comments have put Trump in an unlikely clash with gun rights activists who have raised alarm over the president's position. Even the nation's most powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, has pushed back ‒ though with muted criticism, declining to call Trump out by name for the type of rhetoric the NRA often blasts when it comes from Democrats.

"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, a strong Trump ally, said in a statement after the president's remarks.

Gun Owners of America, another Second Amendment advocacy group, was more direct. "Peaceful protests while armed isn’t radical—it’s American," the group said in a post on X that included a clip of Trump's remarks. "The First and Second Amendments protect those rights, and they always have. GOA will hold any administration accountable."