In 2024, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) was among 17 AGs who contended there is no right to carry a gun at “political rallies and protests.”
The AGs did this in a January 26, 2024, filing in support of upholding California’s gun controls for “sensitive places” in a Ninth Circuit case.
In the filing, Ellison and the other AGs expressed support for banning the possession of firearms “in crowded places.”
The AGs wrote: “Without the power to institute such restrictions, California and other states would be left unable effectively to prevent gun violence in crowded places, around vulnerable populations, or where individuals are exercising other constitutionally protected rights, putting the public at risk.”
They emphasized, “Even the perceived risk of gun violence could cause repercussions, as individuals may be discouraged from visiting crowded or confined locations where they know others may be armed.”
To bolster their argument, Ellison and the other AGs noted the practice of designating “event involving political speech, like political rallies and protests,” as gun-free sensitive places.
On Saturday a federal officer shot and fatally wounded an armed man in Minneapolis. DHS indicated the agent who shot the man did so by firing “defensive shots.”
The incident occurred in a crowded place amid a protest.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
