By JACKIE TAYLOR | January 28, 2026

1st & 2nd Amendment versus common sense

I inadvertently got involved in a discussion on Facebook last weekend after someone posted a comment about the killing of protester, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Facebook comment stated, “The “good guy with a gun” just got summarily executed by ICE.”

I commented back, “Don’t bring a gun to an ICE party, pretty simple. Obey the law!”

The following comment was made, “A legally armed citizen with a holstered firearm should not be a death sentence no matter the circumstances.”

It was an interesting concept as both of us went two ways on the highway that intersected in Minneapolis. 

My comment comes from the thought process that no one with an ounce of common sense would inject themselves into the middle of the ICE fight to take illegal aliens out of this country. Renee Good blocked traffic, inadvertently hitting an ICE agent, who then fired three rounds killing the woman in her vehicle.

Alex Pretti was a VA intensive care nurse in Minneapolis that attended the riot in Minneapolis. Video footage is still being attained, but original footage was allegedly reported about Pretti pulling a gun on agents, them yelling “gun, gun” and shots being fired into Pretti.

Later, video is still coming in that seems to show Pretti holding a cell phone in his hand when he began tussling with agents; they pushed him down when they found a gun in his waistband. At that point, it appears they pull the handgun out of his holster and agents fired on Pretti as he was on the ground. He broke no laws in carrying at the protest.

So, the two different thoughts concerning the Facebook post comes at this point. First, I would never put myself into a position where a law enforcement officer would need to push me out of the way or detain me, etc. 

Now, granted, I’m coming at it from a law-abiding citizen that feels law enforcement is there to achieve what has been ordered of them – remove the “worst of the worst” illegal aliens and get them out of the country. I do not approach what is going on from the attitude that ICE is the Gestapo or Nazi, or whatever word choice of the day the Left is choosing to use.

Where my friend on Facebook is coming from, I hadn’t thought of – Pretti was legally allowed to carry as he had a conceal carry permit. He was legally carrying a firearm under his coat. 

The problem comes when you put someone who is legally allowed to carry a weapon, with that weapon of choice, in a scene that is chaotic and dangerous. Law enforcement has no idea who is a good guy or bad guy and all guns can kill – even those on the waistband of a legal carrier.

Part of the premise of conceal carry is to protect yourself from those who may do us harm. 

Placing yourself into a situation where we can be injured or killed, even if it is our First Amendment right to protest, is not smart – ask Renee Good’s family and now Alex Pretti’s family. He was legal to carry, but there are times when it’s not prudent to. If you must carry, don’t go to that location.

It’s kind of like drinking and carrying. If you’re going to go to a bar to drink – don’t carry. If you’re going to go to a riot where police are super charged and afraid for their lives – don’t carry if you’re going to be on the front lines attacking them.

I’m sure there are some out there that think I’m crazy for this line of thought; but conceal carry is for our personal protection against those whom choose to do us harm. When Pretti put his holstered firearm on to go to the riot, he had to think he might be defending himself from law enforcement, and continued to holster his firearm. 

It was not smart; it put everyone in harms way. Was it legal? Yes. Smart? No.

Part of conceal carry training involves learning about safe rooms. When a perpetrator enters your house, they teach students to move to a bedroom that can be controlled before just firing on someone who breaks in. Retreat until you can’t.

Pretti did not retreat; he marched on law enforcement, confronted them and was taken down. When they pulled a gun from his holster, things got heated up and he lost his life in the battle. Was he legal to carry? Sure, but he’ll be the subject of what to do and not do in many conceal carry classes in the future.

Hopefully, things end soon in Minnesota. Paid rioters are on scene and they are calling for further disruption. People get amped up; they make stupid decisions and people get killed as a result.

More will come out on the Pretti shooting as to whom is to blame. Details are being pulled together; heaven help them all.