South Dakota’s Republican governor Kristi Noem on Friday bragged before a crowd that her two-year-old grandchild owns several guns, Mediaite reported.

Speaking at a National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbying leadership forum in Indiana, Noem told the audience that her grandchild, Addie, has several guns.

"Now Addie, who you know – 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," the Republican governor said.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), addressing the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, says her nearly 2-year-old granddaughter “already has a shotgun, and she already has a rifle.” pic.twitter.com/d7V4Kslmo3

— The Recount (@therecount) April 14, 2023

Noem’s remarks have gone viral on social media, with many users rebuking the governor for encouraging minors to acquire guns.

"Absolutely sickening. How the hell is this real life in America?" tweeted Tennessee Democrat Chris Jackson.

Absolutely sickening. How the hell is this real life in America?

— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) April 14, 2023

Noem also signed an executive order to "further protect the second amendment rights of South Dakotans" and was joined on stage by Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the NRA.

"South Dakota is setting the standard for the most second amendment friendly state in the nation," she underlined.

According to KELO, the executive order would bar state agencies from engaging in business with any company that discriminates against a "firearm-related entity".

This comes last than a month after a heavily armed 28-year-old American woman killed three children and three staff members at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee before she was shot dead by police officers.

The Nashville police pointed out that the woman had the ability to buy and hide multiple weapons in the family home despite evidence of mental health issues.

Guns on the rise

Commenting on the Nashville shooting, US President Joe Biden said that gun violence was tearing the nation's "soul" as he urged Congress to pass a ban on the assault weapons commonly used in mass shootings.

"It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation," Biden said.

In January, the US President called on Congress to pass new legislation to ban assault weapons in light of a recent spate of shootings. He urged both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver the Assault Weapons Ban.

The debate on banning guns in the US was given a lot of impetus in May 2022, when a string of mass shootings that left dozens dead culminated in Congress discussing a ban on assault rifles.

The US House of Representatives passed in July 2022 a bill that stipulates banning assault weapons, marking a first in decades in light of a mass shooting epidemic in the country.

The bill bans the sale, import, manufacture, or transfer of certain semi-automatic rifles, which have long been used in the United States in mass shootings.

The bill passing marked the first ban on assault rifles since 1994 when Congress passed a 10-year ban on weapons and certain high-capacity magazines. Lawmakers, however, let the ban expire in 2004, sending the sales of arms nationwide skyrocketing.

Other measures include bolstering background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, maintaining safe storage of firearms, and allowing for the liability of gun manufacturers for crimes committed using their products.

Read more: Biden to announce executive order to reduce gun purchase and violence