South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order Friday that blocks state agencies from signing contracts with financial institutions that she says have discriminated against the firearms industry.
Noem signed the order while at the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis, where she was among the speakers. The order took effect immediately,
Noem said it was in response to moves by some large banking institutions that she claimed have threatened to withhold funds, cancel loans, or hold firearms companies “to a different standard than how the left is treated.”
Considered to be running for next year’s Republican presidential or vice-presidential nomination, Noem said of such actions “I won’t stand for it, not in South Dakota,” Noem said.
Pro-gun lawmakers in the South Dakota Legislature tried to pass a similar NRA-backed measure during last year’s session, but lobbyists for several banking associations and business groups persuaded a Senate committee to kill it.