1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I am writing as a gun owner who has long supported common sense gun regulation while firmly believing in the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a border agent in Minneapolis on Saturday demands your immediate attention and action. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old registered nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, was killed during an immigration enforcement operation. The Trump administration claims Pretti carried a gun and posed a danger to officers, yet available video footage does not show him holding a weapon. This discrepancy between federal claims and documented evidence is deeply troubling. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli's suggestion that approaching law enforcement with a gun creates a high likelihood of being legally shot is dangerous and wrong. As Republican Representative Thomas Massie correctly stated, carrying a firearm is a constitutionally protected right, not a death sentence. The right to bear arms does not end when exercising First Amendment rights to assemble and protest. These constitutional protections must coexist, not cancel each other out. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the federal version of events "nonsense" and "lies," while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey likened the operation to an invasion. This is the second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis this month linked to ICE operations. The pattern is alarming and the impact on communities is devastating. I urge you to demand a full, transparent investigation into Alex Pretti's death and to oppose any narrative that treats lawful gun ownership as justification for lethal force. Support legislation that holds federal agents accountable when they violate constitutional rights. Our Second Amendment rights and our First Amendment rights to protest must both be protected. The alternative is state-sanctioned violence against law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional freedoms.