‘It’s like a spit in the face': Some Wisconsin gun rights advocates slam President Trump’s response to Alex Pretti shooting

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) – Several gun rights organizations have shared their reaction to President Donald Trump defending the killing of Alex Pretti.

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters he wanted to see an investigation into the death but also said protesters "can't have guns."

"I don't like that he had a gun," Trump said. "I don't like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That's a lot of bad stuff."

Eddie Silas is the co-owner of Prolific Arms in West Allis. He says he isn’t very politically involved, however, his business advocates for the second amendment. He believes Alex Pretti’s rights were violated.

“I believe it was a direct attack on the second amendment,” Silas said. “He didn’t break any laws. His constitutional rights were violated.

Trump’s comments and statements from other key members of his administration about Pretti are notable for his party that has traditionally supported gun rights and second amendment advocates.

“They are willing to flip on the whole second amendment community,” Silas said. "It breaks my heart. “To me, it’s like a spit in the face of the second amendment.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has responded on X: 

Rob Kovach, the president of the Wisconsin Firearm Owners, said as a second amendment advocacy group, they don’t want to discourage anyone from their rights to legally carry a concealed firearm.

“There’s going to be a long investigation that’s going to bring out the facts of who was right and who was wrong, but that’s really not going to have any benefit for Mr. Pretti,” Kovach said.

Some people are drawing comparisons between Alex Pretti and Kyle Rittenhouse. The man who shot three people, killing two, during protests in 2020. President Trump had shared support for Rittenhouse’s right to defend himself with the weapon. Kovach believes the two incidents aren’t comparable.

“The instance from Rittenhouse was him using his second amendment rights for self-defense,” Kovach said. “Those don’t really align and don’t have a lot in common in my opinion.”

Rittenhouse posted to X about the deadly shooting involving Pretti: