“I have five grandchildren. I would do anything – anything – to protect my five grandchildren. Including, as a last resort, shooting them, if I had to, to protect the lives of my grandchildren,” he told Congress on Tuesday. He went on to bash Democrats for trying to “take away my right to protect my grandchildren” and “the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their own children.” A video of her speech went viral on Wednesday and was roundly condemned by many. Responding to critics, Ms Lesko said it was ridiculous that people thought she would harm her grandchildren, without elaborating. “It never ceases to amaze me how far gun control zealots will go!” Ms. Lesko wrote on Twitter. “They turned my speech about protecting my Second Amendment rights and my right to protect my grandchildren from violent criminals into a claim that it would harm my own grandchildren. Absolutely ridiculous!” One Twitter user Laura Basset said: “I have to imagine this was just a case of really bad grammar. But she actually suggested that she would shoot her own grandchildren.” On Tuesday, he took the floor to oppose the gun control bill HR 2377 among the sweeping reforms passed by the US House of Representatives following a rise in mass shootings. This particular bill deals with the national Red Flag Act to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Ms. Lesko has been representing Arizona’s 8th Congressional District since 2018, when she narrowly won. She recently received Donald Trump’s endorsement for her 2022 re-election campaign. She has a history of making inflammatory statements and being called out, including for her anti-vaccine and anti-abortion rights stances. After the court rejected Roe v Wade last month, Ms Lasko said: “The US Supreme Court made the right decision in Dobbs. The abortion debate will finally be returned to the people through their elected representatives.”
