US governor says two-year-old grandchild owns guns

• The Guardian

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem on Friday told an audience at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention that her toddler grandchild has been given guns, online news outlet Mediaite reported.

During her remarks at the lobbying leadership forum in Indiana, Noem spoke about her grandchildren Addie, who is almost two, and Branch, who is a few months old.

Noem then said that Addie has a shotgun and a rifle.

Photo: AP

You Might Like

Addie “soon will need them, I wanna 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.

Noem’s remarks on her grandchildren have spread quickly on social media, with many commenters decrying the governor promoting gun ownership among children.

“Absolutely sickening. How the hell is this real life in America?” Tennessee Election Commissioner Chris Jackson wrote on Twitter.

Another user commented: “Call CPS,” referring to US Child Protective Services.

Noem’s comments follow yet another recent mass shooting involving children. Last month, three children and three adults were killed by a shooter — a former student — at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Noem also signed an executive order during her remarks that seeks to “further protect the second amendment rights of South Dakotans,” and was joined on stage by NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.

“South Dakota is setting the standard for the most second-amendment friendly state in the nation,” Noem said about the executive order.

The order would prohibit state agencies from contracting any business that discriminates against a “firearm-related entity,” KELO-TV reported.

Former US vice president Mike Pence also spoke at the forum, but was booed by the audience, possibly because some of the Republican base turned on him after he certified the 2020 election results.