In an email to National Review Online, Palin said, “I’m all in favor of girls with guns who know their purpose.” The comment referred to Sarah McKinley, the 18-year-old who shot 24-year-old Justin Shane Martin on New Year’s Eve as he tried to break into her Oklahoma home.

Palin said she loved “that young woman.”

“She fulfilled a purpose of the Second Amendment. I’d advise my own daughters to do the same. This mom protected an innocent life. Kudos to the 911 dispatcher, too.”