“You can’t walk in with guns” – has Donald Trump just alienated gun-owning voters?

Approximately 81 million.

That is how many people in the U.S. own guns, according to a 2023 BMJ Group survey.

An EBSCO report from 2024 estimated that approximately one in three Americans personally owns a gun, and that 44% of all households have one.

Bottom line: Gun owners are a huge voter base in the U.S., meaning politicians would be wise not to alienate that group — especially not in an election year (the midterms are scheduled to be held in November 2026).

But Donald Trump is now facing fierce backlash from gun owners and gun groups alike after comments on the Alex Pretti shooting last weekend.

What did Trump say?

Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump was asked about the shooting, to which he replied:

“You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t.”

It is difficult to hear the exact words from the president, but CNN, POLITICO, Forbes, and The Hill all report the same quote. The editorial team has watched the clip repeatedly and come to the same conclusion.

We apologize for the background noise. Article continues below.

Alex Pretti had a legal permit to carry a gun in public. He had a gun on his person when the altercation leading to his shooting occurred.

Footage from the incident appears to show that Pretti never reached for his gun, and that agents took away his gun before shooting him.

According to CNN, Trump doubled down on his remarks later the same day as the clip shown above, saying:

“Certainly, he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun,” Trump said.

Fierce backlash

Online, Trump is facing backlash over his comments, with users accusing him of abandoning the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which allows U.S. citizens to “keep and bear arms.”

The National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund endorsed Donald Trump during his run for the presidency in 2024, but in a post on X, the NRA criticized First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli for saying that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”

The NRA has not yet reacted to remarks from Donald Trump.

Sources: X, The Hill, CNN, POLITICO, EBSCO, BMJ Group, Forbes, Constitution.congress.gov

This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, who may have used AI in the preparation