1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Hear that sound? It’s the sound of GOP slamming the brakes on the Second Amendment. Just like every other ‘belief’ held sacrosanct and wielded like a cudgel as necessary, 2nd Amendment support only exists for certain people. Trump’s administration, that received considerable support from gun rights organizations, appears to be now denying that right by arguing that federal agents were justified in shooting Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this weekend, because he was carrying a firearm. “I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Saturday. “He brought a gun. He brought a gun,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. “I’ve been to a protest. Guess what? I didn’t bring a gun, I brought a billboard.” (We’d like to see documentation of him at a protest BTW. With a billboard?) “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have a right to break the law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday. Queue up the ghost of Kristi Noem past… “The Second Amendment is about deterrence. It is about ensuring the government respects the rights and liberty of citizens,” Noem said during a speech to the National Rifle Association in 2023. “Why do the liberals and Joe Biden want our guns? Because it will make it easier for them to infringe on all our other rights.” Ha. Someone needs to tell Kyle Rittenhouse he can’t stroll around with his long gun picking off strangers on the street anymore. Or he can, but he needs to join ICE first. Didn’t he ascend to saint status with the GOP for doing all the things y’all are now crying about? I can’t think of a single belief y’all have vociferously supported as a party that hasn’t now fallen by the wayside in service of politics. Liberty. Freedom of speech. Truth. Justice. Morality. And now the freedom of a citizenry to bear arms. Except as armed and allowed by the federal government. Republican Chris Madel just withdrew from the Minnesota governor’s race, saying “I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so…. Operation Metro Surge has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats.” “United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong,” Madel said. He added: “I am above all else a pragmatist. The reality is that the national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” Good job on killing your party along with your souls.