By Tim Reid 和 Nathan Layne
2026年1月26日 22:46 UTC(更新于11小时前)
- 摘要
- 特朗普政府官员与拥枪权利团体意见不合
- 团体称普雷蒂有权携带武器
- 中期选举中共和党面临风险
节点运行失败
人们聚集在明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市的一处临时纪念场所,该场所是一名被确认为亚历克斯·普雷蒂的男子被联邦移民局特工试图拘留时致命枪击的地点,美国,2026年1月25日。REUTERS/Tim Evans
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – 特朗普政府官员暗示,37岁的护士亚历克斯·普雷蒂不应在明尼阿波利斯的抗议活动中携带一支合法持有的手枪,这一表态罕见地引发了与拥枪权利团体的裂痕,给共和党带来了选举年的风险,而这些团体是共和党最忠诚的选民群体之一。
周六,普雷蒂被联邦特工枪杀后,唐纳德·特朗普总统的几位官员因这一立场迅速遭到拥枪权利团体的反对。
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普雷蒂拥有隐蔽携带武器许可证,明尼阿波利斯警察局长表示,他没有证据表明普雷蒂在被多次枪击前曾挥舞武器。
为特工辩护时,特朗普、联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔、国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆、财政部部长斯科特·贝森特以及边境巡逻队高级官员格雷戈里·博维诺都表示,普雷蒂本不应携带枪支。
“你不能带着一把上膛的枪支,还配备多个弹夹,出现在任何你想参加的抗议活动中。就是这么简单,”帕特尔周日在福克斯新闻上表示。
然而,包括极具政治影响力的全国步枪协会(NRA)在内的拥枪权利团体反驳称,普雷蒂只是在公共场所行使其携带枪支的权利。
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他们认为,政府暗示携带枪支的权利取决于场合——且不适用于抗议活动——这违背了保守派政治的基石原则:持有和携带武器的权利。
明尼苏达拥枪者核心小组称帕特尔的言论“完全不符合明尼苏达州法律”。
不满选民的另一个问题
该小组主席、共和党人布莱恩·斯特劳瑟告诉路透社,政府在第二修正案——即宪法规定的持有和携带武器的权利——问题上出尔反尔,这可能会在11月的中期选举中损害其政党利益,而中期选举将决定国会控制权。
选民已经对生活成本和高昂的医疗成本感到不满,越来越多的人(包括一些共和党人)对特朗普大规模移民打击行动中使用的强硬策略越来越不满。
“他们选择疏远拥枪游说团体,这简直愚蠢透顶。50年来,全国步枪协会和拥枪游说团体基本上一直是共和党的核心选民群体,”佛罗里达州共和党策略师雅各布·佩里表示。
拥枪权利团体是共和党政治竞选活动的主要捐赠者,在动员支持者方面效率很高,其成员是可靠的选民。
当记者周一问及特朗普是否认为美国人在抗议时有权携带枪支时,白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·利维特似乎暗示,这一权利不适用于涉及武装执法人员的活动。
“任何枪支拥有者都知道,当你携带武器、持枪时,如果你遇到执法人员,你就增加了被使用武力对抗的风险,不幸的是,周六就发生了这种情况,”利维特说。
全国步枪协会周一在社交媒体上提及利维特的言论,称虽然守法美国人有宪法规定的持枪权,但他们没有“妨碍合法移民执法行动”的权利。
拥枪权利根植于美国起源故事
路透社审查的经过验证的视频显示,普雷蒂手持手机,而非枪支,当时他正在拍摄联邦特工将抗议者推倒。
在特工与两名女性之间发生冲突后,普雷蒂被喷了胡椒喷雾,制服后被按倒在地。随后的视频显示一名特工从普雷蒂的腰带中取出一把手枪。片刻之后,一名警官从背后向普雷蒂开了四枪,其他特工也开枪射击。
在避免直接批评特朗普的同时,美国拥枪者协会和全国步枪协会转而抨击了特朗普任命的洛杉矶联邦检察官比尔·埃萨利的言论,他在社交媒体上写道:“如果你持枪接近执法人员,他们很可能有合法理由向你开枪。”
全国步枪协会称其言论“危险且错误”。该游说组织一直与特朗普密切合作,未回应置评请求。
美国拥枪者协会发言人路易斯·巴尔德斯表示:“我们的立场非常简单。我们将捍卫第二修正案,没有任何附加条件。”
枪支和拥枪权利与美国的起源故事紧密相连,植根于边疆精神、对暴政的反抗和独立意识。然而,直到20世纪60年代和70年代,拥枪权利才成为一个热门的政治文化问题。
1968年的政治暗杀事件,包括民权领袖小马丁·路德·金和美国参议员、民主党总统候选人罗伯特·F·肯尼迪遇刺,导致了1968年《枪支管制法》的出台,该法禁止向某些群体(包括重刑犯和吸毒者)出售枪支,并要求枪支经销商获得联邦许可。
这引发了保守派的强烈反对,他们认为该法律是政府越权。1977年,全国步枪协会领导层从主要由枪支俱乐部成员组成转变为强硬的政治活动家,促成了现代拥枪权利运动的诞生。
共和党顾问让妮特·霍夫曼表示,枪支拥有者是可靠的共和党选民群体,并且非常重视他们的第二修正案权利。
“如果第二修正案团体觉得他们的宪法权利受到特朗普政府的攻击,这可能会对中期选举产生影响,”她说。
保守派经常在抗议活动中携带武器。其中包括凯尔·里滕豪斯,他在2020年威斯康星州的抗议活动中被指控杀死两人、重伤一人,但最终被判无罪。他受到保守派的赞扬,并后来与特朗普会面。
“到处携带(枪支)。这是你的权利,”里滕豪斯周一在X平台(原推特)上发帖称。
报道由蒂姆·里德和内森·莱恩;安德鲁·海补充报道;罗斯·科尔文和比尔·伯克罗编辑
我们的标准:汤姆森路透社信托原则。
Republicans face election risks in clash with gun rights groups over protester’s killing
By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne
January 26, 2026 10:46 PM UTC Updated 11 hours ago
节点运行失败
People gather at a makeshift memorial at the site where a man identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans
- Summary
- Trump officials at odds with gun rights groups
- Groups say Pretti had right to carry weapon
- Risks loom for Republicans in midterm elections
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Trump administration officials’ suggestion that Alex Pretti should not have brought a legally carried handgun to a Minneapolis protest has opened a rare rift with gun rights groups, creating election-year risks for Republicans with one of their most loyal voting blocs.
Several of President Donald Trump’s officials drew swift pushback from gun rights groups for their stance after Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was shot dead by federal agents on Saturday.
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Pretti had a license to carry a concealed weapon, and the Minneapolis police chief said he has seen no evidence that Pretti brandished the weapon before he was shot multiple times.
In defense of the agents, Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, all said Pretti should not have been carrying a gun.
“You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple,” Patel said on Fox News on Sunday.
Gun rights groups, including the politically influential National Rifle Association, however, countered that Pretti had simply been exercising his right to carry a firearm in public.
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They argued that the administration’s suggestion that his right to carry a gun depends on the setting – and does not extend to protests – runs against a bedrock principle of conservative politics: the right to keep and bear arms.
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus called Patel’s comments “completely incorrect on Minnesota law.”
ANOTHER ISSUE FOR DISGRUNTLED VOTERS
Bryan Strawser, the group’s chairman and a Republican, told Reuters the administration was backtracking on the Second Amendment – the constitutional right to keep and bear arms – and that could hurt his party going into the November midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
Voters are already disgruntled over the cost of living and high healthcare costs, and a rising number, including some Republicans, are growing increasingly unhappy with the aggressive tactics being used in Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
“It’s unbelievably stupid that they’ve chosen to alienate the gun lobby. The NRA and the gun lobby have basically been a bedrock constituency of the Republican Party for 50 years,” said Jacob Perry, a Republican strategist based in Florida.
Gun rights groups are major donors to Republican political campaigns, are effective in turning out supporters, and their members are reliable voters.
Asked by a reporter on Monday if Trump believes Americans have a right to carry a gun while protesting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to suggest that right did not extend to events involving armed law enforcement.
“Any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms, and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you, and that’s unfortunately what took place on Saturday,” Leavitt said.
The NRA on social media on Monday referred to Leavitt’s comments, saying that while law-abiding Americans had a constitutional right to carry guns, they did not have a right to “impede lawful immigration enforcement operations.”
GUN RIGHTS ROOTED IN US ORIGIN STORY
Verified videos reviewed by Reuters show Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, as he filmed federal agents pushing protesters to the ground.
After stepping between an agent and two women, Pretti was pepper-sprayed, subdued, and pinned to the ground. Footage then appears to show an agent removing a handgun from Pretti’s waistband. Moments later, an officer shot Pretti four times in the back, with additional shots fired by other agents.
While avoiding direct criticism of Trump, Gun Owners of America and the NRA instead targeted comments by Bill Essayli, a Trump‑appointed federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, who wrote on social media that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
The NRA called his remarks “dangerous and wrong.” The lobbying organization, which has been closely aligned with Trump, did not respond to a request for comment.
Luis Valdes, a GOA spokesman, said, “Our stance is very simple. We will defend the Second Amendment, no ifs, ands or buts.”
Guns and gun rights are wrapped up in the American origin story, rooted in a frontier mentality, a resistance to tyranny, and independence. Yet it wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that gun rights became a hot-button political cultural issue.
Political assassinations in 1968, including those of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, led to the 1968 Gun Control Act, which banned gun sales to certain groups, including felons and drug users, and required the federal licensing of gun dealers.
It triggered a backlash among conservatives, who saw the law as government overreach. In 1977, NRA leadership changed from mostly gun club members to hardline political activists, bringing about the birth of the modern gun-rights movement.
Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican consultant, said gun owners are a reliable Republican bloc and take seriously their Second Amendment rights.
“This could have ramifications in the midterms if Second Amendment groups feel their constitutional rights are under attack by the Trump administration,” she said.
Conservatives have often brought weapons to protests. Among them was Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted on charges of killing two people and wounding another during a 2020 protest in Wisconsin. He was lauded by conservatives and later met with Trump.
“Carry everywhere. It is your right,” Rittenhouse posted on X on Monday.
Reporting by Tim Reid and Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Ross Colvin and Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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