South Dakota’s governor says her 2-year-old granddaughter ‘already’ has several guns

• South Dakota’s governor said her nearly 2-year-old granddaughter has several guns.
• Kristi Noem rebuked Democrats for their position on increasing gun safety at an NRA event.
• Noem signed an executive order to “protect the God-given right to keep and bear arms,” she said.

South Dakota’s Republican governor told an audience that her 2-year-old granddaughter “already” had several guns.

Speaking at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Indiana on Friday, Kristi Noem spoke about her grandchildren, Addie and Branch. She said that the nearly 2-year-old Addie had a shotgun and a rifle.

“Now Addie, who you know, soon will need them, I want to reassure you, she already has a shotgun and she already has a rifle, and she’s got a little pony named Sparkles too. So the girl is set up,” Noem said. 

—The Recount (@therecount) April 14, 2023

Later, while on stage, Noem signed an executive order to “protect the God-given right to keep and bear arms from being infringed upon by financial institutions,” according to Dakota News Now.

During the speech, Noem, who was joined on stage by Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the NRA, also rebuked the Biden administration and the “liberals” who “want to take our guns.”

The governor’s remarks come just after three elementary school students and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Absolutely sickening. How the hell is this real life in America?,” Chris D. Jackson, a Tennessee Democrat, wrote on Twitter about Noem’s remarks.

The right to bear arms is a divisive and polarizing issue in American politics. Some firearms are marketed toward children despite repeated gun violence and mass shootings across the country. 

In the US, there have been over 160 mass shootings in 2023 so far, according to the Gun Violence Archive. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump also made appearances at the NRA event. Trump received a standing ovation, but Pence was loudly booed despite positioning himself as a defender of gun rights.