It’s well known to NRA Women that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is an avid outdoorswoman and one of our most ardent Second Amendment supporters. In fact, it wasn’t unusual to see her being interviewed during the 2020 election season while donning blaze orange and upland clothing, taking a break from one of her favorite fall activities—pheasant hunting.
Now Noem has been presented with a custom engraved Henry Big Boy lever-action rifle, making her the most recent recipient of the rifle built by American firearms manufacturer Henry Repeating Arms specifically for the keynote speaker at The Republican Party of Arkansas’ (RPA) Reagan-Rockefeller Dinner. The event took place June 4, 2021.
And while the Big Boy will have to swapped for a shotgun as she heads back into the grasslands later this year, according to some news reports, speculation is rising that Noem could run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination—and she would not be the first RPA Henry rifle recipient with sights set on the presidency.
For more than a decade, the RPA has honored its headline speakers with the Henry .44 Magnum rifle. Past recipients include former president Donald Trump, a candidate at the time in 2015; Senator Rand Paul; former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin; former New York State Judge Jeanine Pirro; and 44th Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. These gifts of modern-day Henry rifles draw inspiration from a gold-mounted Henry rifle presented to Abraham Lincoln in 1862.
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin unveiled the rifle from under a red velvet curtain, and the crowd of over 500 attendees cheered on their feet as Noem eyed the firearm for the first time and picked it up. The rifle features the RPA logo engraved in the right side of the walnut buttstock.
“Governor Kristi Noem is an avid outdoorswoman and a hunter through and through,” says Patrick Rhodes, RPA event volunteer and liaison to Henry Repeating Arms. “Once she saw that rifle, there was no holding her back from getting her hands on it as quickly as possible. The excitement was real.”
For more, visit HenryUSA.com.
