Left-wing Ohioans change their beliefs, arm up to protect themselves against ICE after decades of anti-gun activism

Left-wing Ohioans recently began learning how to shoot guns to protect themselves against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after spending decades supporting Democrats’ anti-Second Amendment policies, laws, and propositions.

Emma Oaks, a 28-year-old woman from Columbus who identifies as LGBT, was among the people who attended a shooting practice in Shelby, a small town just outside Mansfield, Richland County. She and other people were instructed by Matt Shepherd, an instructor for Ohio’s chapter of the Liberal Gun Club, according to Ideastream Public Media.

“I was pretty satisfied,” she told the news source after shooting at targets. “It must be all that ‘Call of Duty’ I played.”

However, her satisfaction contradicts the well-established anti-gun position of the Democratic Party.

According to several news outlets, such as the Ohio Capital Journal, NBC 4 in Columbus, and the Associated Press, Ohio Democrats supported the ban on semi-automatic weapons and bump stocks, as well as universal background checks for gun purchases and so-called “red flag” laws that allow the temporary removal of weapons from people who are allegedly a risk to themselves and others.

The Pew Research Center also published a report on July 24, 2024, that said that 45% of Republicans and right-leaning independents say they own a gun, as compared to 20% of Democrats, which only solidifies the fact that left-wingers’ general anti-gun position is aligned with the mainstream beliefs of the Democratic Party.

“You look at countries with actually effective gun control, like Australia, for example, where gun crime rates are significantly lower than here,” Oaks, who was raised in an anti-gun family, said.

However, she told Ideastream Public Media that she lives in the United States, instead of those countries, adding that she adjusted her beliefs after President Donald Trump was elected for the second time and after Renee Good was killed in Minneapolis in January 2026.

“The murder of Renee Good really hit me hard because I could see myself in her position doing what she did,” Oaks said. “And at that moment, it kind of hit me that I should probably have some form of self-defense.”

According to Ideastream Public Media, more left-wing women are now buying guns to protect themselves against ICE agents.

“A lot of people whom I don’t trust and who I think may be violent own guns,” Oaks told the site, referring to Vice President J.D. Vance and former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “So, I think it is time for me to own one as well.”

Ed Gardner, the director of The Liberal Gun Club, told the news source that the reason why that is the case is that these women see themselves in Good and Pretti, another person who was killed by federal immigration authorities.

“To a certain extent, the reason these people are becoming interested in this is that they see themselves reflected in Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s faces,” he said.

“Erin” Ramsby, Oaks’s friend, joined her at the shooting practice, citing self-defense as a motivation.

Socialist Rifle Association is another left-wing and pro-gun organization that helps people train to shoot a gun and has chapters in Ohio.