For decades, Republican politicians and conservative influencers peddled fear that Democrats were “coming for your guns.” The message was relentless and effective. Many voters believed it, and it shaped elections and politics for years.
Now, recent events have exposed just how dishonest and manipulative that rhetoric was.
After the murder of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, senior figures in the Trump administration publicly questioned or dismissed the legality of peaceful protesters carrying firearms. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem condemned armed protesters outright. FBI Director Kash Patel suggested that bringing a firearm to a protest could be illegal, despite Minnesota law explicitly allowing permitted carry at rallies and demonstrations. Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino claimed Pretti forfeited his Second Amendment rights simply by exercising them. President Donald Trump himself summed it up bluntly: “You can’t have guns … you can’t walk in with guns.”
These statements come from the same political movement that spent decades presenting itself as the only true defender of the Second Amendment.
That contradiction should alarm anyone who values constitutional rights.
If leaders who loudly claim devotion to the Constitution are willing to reinterpret or dismiss it the moment it becomes inconvenient, what does that say about their principles?
Republican politicians and conservative influencers spent years gaslighting voters with fear-based claims about Democrats taking their guns. Now that their own words and actions tell a different story, two simple questions remain: Why should we trust anything they say, and are they the ones who will actually come for your guns?
Jason Mendoza
Bayfield
