FBI Director Kash Patel stated on Fox News that unruly protesters cannot carry loaded firearms with multiple magazines, which has prompted some push back from gun rights organizations. His January 25 statement came while defending Border Patrol agents who fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis the previous day.
"NO ONE who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines," Patel stated, adding categorically that "you cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want."
The remarks immediately drew rebukes from organizations typically aligned with Republican politics.
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus called Patel's remarks "completely incorrect on Minnesota law," stating that "Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms, including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights."
Gun Owners of America described the administration position as "untoward," declaring that "The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms while protesting, a right the federal government must not infringe upon."
Rob Daar, general counsel for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, called Patel "categorically wrong," explaining that "Minnesota law does not restrict the number of firearms you can carry, and by extension the number of magazines you can carry."
Rep. Thomas Massie suggested the FBI was "adopting every leftist gun-banner talking point" and questioned whether officials defending the shooting belong in government. "Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it's a Constitutionally protected God-given right," Massie declared.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem characterized Pretti's conduct as "an act of domestic terrorism.” Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called Pretti "an assassin.” These characterizations may be true, as it has been demonstrated that Pretti was part of an ANTIFA-aligned "ICE Watch" group that encouraged resistance tactics characterized as assault. It was this far-left front that radicalized Pretti and sent him to the slaughter.
Regardless, it’s time to shift the discussion and move toward actual patriotic immigration restriction actions. Proactive interior enforcement must continue in Minnesota and red states as well nationwide, focusing enforcement resources on employers who deliberately hire illegal workers, breaking polarization through competent administration that targets the mass migration issue head-on.
