U.S. Representative Ralph Norman Pulls Gun In Meeting With “Moms Demand Action,” Explaining “I’m Not Going To Be A Gabby Giffords”
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 7 months ago
Republican Congressman Ralph Norman from the Upstate pulled out a loaded pistol during a meeting with gun control advocates Friday morning, upsetting at least one woman who said she felt “unsafe” by her representative’s actions.
The brandishing took place during a “coffee with constituents meeting” hosted by Rep. Ralph Norman, 64, a Republican from Rock Hill representing South Carolina’s 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lori Freeman, a volunteer group leader with Moms Demand Action in Fort Mill, said she found out about the meeting on the congressman’s Facebook page and decided to go after he rebuffed a previous meeting request on the heels of the February shooting of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
Freeman thinks Norman might have been encouraged to take out his weapon by another constituent who was at the table Friday morning.
“This gentleman offered up that he was concealed carrying, and he asked if we felt safer because he was concealed carry,” Freeman said in a phone interview with CP. “Once the gentleman said he was concealed carrying, that’s when [Rep. Norman] reached into his blazer. He pulled his gun out, told us it was loaded, put it on the table, and let it sit there for five to 10 minutes.”
Norman told the Post & Courier that he pulled out his loaded .38 caliber Smith & Wesson to prove that “guns don’t shoot people, people shoot guns.”
“I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” Norman told the paper, referencing the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head during a constituent meeting outside a Tucson-area grocery store in January 2011. “I don’t mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I’m shooting back,” Norman said.
“Honestly it was just a strange feeling,” Freeman said about Friday’s meeting. “I don’t know that I felt scared. I was trying to figure out if he was using it as an intimidation factor or to have some kind of bravado. I kind of felt angry more than I felt scared, I felt very angry that he was doing that to us. I felt that he didn’t know our history, if any of us were survivors of gun or domestic violence, if anyone may have also had a criminal history.”
Freeman maintains that both of her encounters with Rep. Norman have been mostly pleasant, and that he even expressed support for a “red flag law,” which would allow family members or law enforcement to temporarily restrict gun purchases to anyone deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others.
There is no evidence he “brandished” the weapon, so the author of this report has leveled an accusation of a felony at the man without the slightest proof.
As for Rep. Norman, I like what you did and what you said, but if South Carolina was an open carry state like it should be, you wouldn’t have had to remove your weapon from concealment like some sort of criminal. I’ll not be a Gabby Giffords either, but I open carry “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.”
But I don’t support your “red flag law,” and I think you need to revisit that support in light of what the constitution says about it and the corruption of the judiciary in the country (along with the stupidity of juries).
One commenter, Jan Napack, says this.
Where did Congressman Norman get his gun safety training? The first rule is never, repeat never, handle a firearm (especially around kids, in mixed company, at a crowded function, in a restaurant, close quarters, etc.) without first checking that it is unloaded. An extension of that rule is never hand over a gun, put it down, or receive it from someone unless its proven to be unloaded.
Sorry dear, that’s not a “rule of gun safety.” Swing and a miss. Try again some time.
On April 7, 2018 at 10:30 pm, Ned said:
FFS, of course it was “brandishing.” It’s always “brandishing” to these left wing MSM fruitcakes. The idiot urinalist would have a coronary if he ever went to a gun store, and witnessed all the customers handling – er, brandishing – guns.
If the assneck author ever makes a retraction, it will, of course, be on page 9 somewhere.
Good catch on the typical “expert” gun owner opining about “gun safety.”
On April 8, 2018 at 12:14 pm, Chris Mallory said:
Jan’s comment does sound like the lawyer written rules that some commercial indoor shooting ranges require you to sign off on when you shoot on their premises.
On April 8, 2018 at 2:16 pm, Ned said:
Chris – maybe. Our gun club has rules posted, but nothing like this. FWIW, when someone hands you a gun, you always assume it is loaded and manually check it yourself. If someone places a gun on the table, I’m not going to freak out about the rules, unless that person swept people with it upon unholstering it.
Besides, good ole Jan goes on to write that the congressman “brandished” the weapon. He appears for all intents and purposes to be a perfect Quisling Fudd.
On April 8, 2018 at 4:30 pm, Chris Mallory said:
The indoor range I shoot at makes new shooters watch an “industry” produced safety video that restricts handing another person a loaded weapon or laying a loaded weapon on the shooting bench. But they are right off the interstate and get all kinds in to rent a gun and a lane for an hour.
Once the range officers get to know you and figure out that you know your way around a firearm, they are not so strict.
The outdoor range I am a member of has a different set of rules, the biggest being make sure you wear your eyes and ears.
On April 9, 2018 at 10:55 am, Pat Hines said:
My comment to that article.
“I thank God for men with the spirit of South Carolina’s culture and the courage to demonstrate it.
I’m a South Carolina native, my grandmother was born in Charleston. Our native culture is an armed culture. Those who don’t like that should move to a place more to their liking, such as Massachusetts or New York. Either of those states will welcome you to their effete milieu.”
On April 9, 2018 at 11:08 am, Gryphon said:
The Term “Brandishing” used to refer to someone waving a Weapon around in a Threatening Manner, or Pointing it at someone, or making Threats while Holding a Weapon. Now the bolsheviks have made it into meaning just Having a Weapon in Hand while near Snowflakes.
Control of Words.
Control of Meaning.
Control of Language.
Control of People.
Part of the communist manifesto, as I recall…
On April 9, 2018 at 11:15 am, Herschel Smith said:
@Gryphon,
Yes. Control of language means control of tags of meaning. Language is tags we attach to ideas in order to communicate ideas from one person to another (viz. Gordon H. Clark). That’s why it’s so difficult to talk in another language to someone when their culture lacks the tags that make the idea communicable.