Gun Owners Fire Back at Kristi Noem — “Anyone Who Agrees With Her Is A Bootlicking Hypocrite”

Conservative gun owners on social media reacted angrily after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem suggested that "peaceful protesters" are not armed. Collected responses from multiple accounts argued her comment contradicts the lived experience and principles of many who support the Second Amendment.

Many commenters framed Noem’s remarks as hypocritical, noting that some on the right defend armed civilians in other contexts but dissociate from similar behavior when it comes to protesters. Others used the moment to raise broader concerns about selective enforcement, law-enforcement use of force, and perceived authoritarian drift in government.

Notable Reactions

"If you can be executed by law enforcement for carrying a weapon, then you do not have the right to bear arms, and that is unacceptable. Kristi Noem needs to shut her goddamn mouth and read the Constitution for once in her life." — chicken-cuddle

"This government is comprised of authoritarian hacks, and they're rapidly burning through their political capital/perceived mandate, alienating their own base while not actually accomplishing anything other than making sure the swing back to the left is going to be equally hard and absurd." — SinistralRifleman

"His gun had been removed well away from his reach. The precedent is alarming. It says that a private citizen with all gun licenses in place can holster the gun, walk down the street, and if an ICE thug decides they're a threat, then killing them is legal." — Maleficient_Scale_296

"They'd say that if seeing a gun causes you fear, that's a you problem. Where are those people now? There truly are people on the right who only believe in constitutional rights when they are the ones exercising them. When someone else does it, they see them as a threat that needs to be dealt with. Hypocritical and dangerous to their core." — ElectricSheepskin

"That's the whole point of the 2nd. It was put there because that's what we escaped from and fought for. So yes, I will protect my country from enemies foreign and domestic. For the government to say I'm wrong for that and it's illegal, well, wake up America, it always gets worse before it gets better." — volboy03

Responses were collected from public social posts and edited for length and clarity. The backlash illustrates a split among pro-gun conservatives: while some accept distinctions around armed protesters, many see Noem’s comment as a betrayal of constitutional principles or evidence of selective enforcement depending on who is armed.

Context: The quotes and posts came from multiple social accounts and were shared in response to Noem’s statement, which itself sparked debate about how public officials describe protesters and how those descriptions shape policing and public perception.