Just out from the Post and Courier …
A South Carolina Republican congressman is not backing down from critics after he pulled out his own personal — and loaded — .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun during a meeting with constituents Friday.
Norman told The Post and Courier he pulled the weapon in attempt to make a point that guns are only dangerous in the hands of criminals. He was speaking to constituents about gun violence during a public meeting in Rock Hill.
“I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman said afterward, referring to a former Arizona congresswoman who was shot outside a Tucson-area grocery store in 2011. “I don’t mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I’m shooting back.”
The reference to Giffords is particularly ugly, suggesting that her near fatal and debilitating wound was due to her not being sufficiently prepared.
