GOP to pay 'steep political cost' over 'hostile' remark to gun owners: firearms instructor

Jeanine Pirro speaking at the 2022 Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida on July 23, 2022 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

After the fatal shooting of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, federal prosecutor and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro warned political protesters against carrying a concealed weapon in Washington, D.C. — even if they are licensed gun owners and have a permit.

Pirro told Fox News, "You bring a gun into the District, you mark my words: you're going to jail. I don't care if you have a license in another district, and I don't care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this district, count on going to jail, and hope you get the gun back."

In an op-ed published by MS NOW on February 5, journalist and certified firearms instructor Stephen Gutowski stresses that Pirro's comments risk alienating a core GOP lobby: gun owners.

"Just as the news cycle was beginning to move past President Donald Trump's attack on Alex Pretti's gun carry," Gutowski argues, "Jeanine Pirro has brought the administration right back into the sights of longtime allies in the gun rights movement….

While it's true that Washington, D.C., has among the strictest gun laws in the nation and doesn't recognize concealed carry permits from any other jurisdiction, it's not true that people from outside the city can't legally carry a gun inside it. The city issues carry permits to nonresidents who complete the required training and pass a background check, just as it does for residents."

Gutowski adds, "The backlash from gun rights advocates pointing out this fact and decrying Pirro's inexplicable focus on gun owners, whom she herself describes as law-abiding, was swift."

For example, GOP strategist John Cardillo, in a February 3 post on X wrote, "It's very scary that so many in the Trump administration have become Second Amendment hostile."

Gun Owners of America tweeted, "'Shall not be infringed.' Unless you cross into D.C.? Why are non-violent, law-abiding permit holders being treated like criminals?"

Gutowski writes, "The potential consequences of Pirro poking gun activists are clear, and several of those activists outraged by Pirro's comments were willing to say them outright. As Trump and his party's polling numbers sink and the midterm elections approach, his administration's willingness to go after gun owners could come with a steep political cost."

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