Rep. Ralph Norman took out a loaded weapon at a meeting with constituents. “I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords," Norman said afterward. “I don't mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I'm shooting back," he told The Post and Courier.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 6, 2018
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.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, told The Post and Courier he pulled out the weapon and placed it on a table for several minutes in attempt to make a point that guns are only dangerous in the hands of criminals…
The incident happened at one of the many “coffee with constituents” meetings the freshman lawmaker hosts around South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.
Norman said he pulled out the gun, pointed it away from the meeting attendees and put it on a table for about five minutes while they continued their conversation over breakfast.
The move, Norman said, was intended to prove “guns don’t shoot people; people shoot guns.”
Norman is a state concealed carry permit holder and said he regularly brings his gun with him when out in public.
If anyone walked into the diner and started shooting, Norman told the attendees, he would be able to protect them because of his gun…
Norman’s actions also drew the ire of Giffords’ husband, retired Navy veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, who helped Giffords start a gun control group after she was shot.
“Congressman Norman is right – he’s no Gabby Giffords,” Kelly said in a statement.
“Americans are increasingly faced with a stark choice: leaders like Gabby, who work hard together to find solutions to problems, or extremists like the NRA and Congressman Norman, who rely on intimidation tactics and perpetuating fear,” Kelly added…
Democrats pounced on Norman’s actions, suggesting it was a potentially illegal political stunt.
“Ralph is only pulling his gun out of his pants like a prop, which no responsible gun owner would do, because he barely got elected the first time,” Robertson said. “This isn’t about gun ownership, it’s about his inadequate campaign.”
Four Democrats have filed to run against Norman in the 2018 race, including his opponent from last year’s special election, Archie Parnell….
I am no expert on concealed carry etiquette, but I would think that once a holder starts pulling out his weapon as a (literal) party prop, he’s pretty well negated the “concealed” part of the equation.
Additional context: A meeting with local constituents…about gun control.
— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) April 6, 2018
Aside from the obvious insanity here, the casual disrespect shown Gabby Giffords is loathsome. If he was going to go there why didn’t he reference the more recent Steve Scalise, I wonder (rhetorically)? https://t.co/ZuyGcoor0B
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 7, 2018
But at least Rep. Norman can count on the support of his peers…
South Carolina GOP introduces bill to secede from US over gun laws https://t.co/hOFWB38uaw pic.twitter.com/oGbhwbZtxT
— The Hill (@thehill) April 7, 2018
… because that worked out so very well for the state, the first time it was tried.
BC in Illinois
Mister Forkbeard had the best insight (last night) into this congresscritter’s thinking.
He thinks he won.
MisterForkbeard
But I was told by FOX that it was California and those dirty liberals who were trying to secede! To protect brown people, of all reasons.
MisterForkbeard
@BC in Illinois: I’m honored that someone remembered this. :)
Arclite
South Carolina, folks. They looked at Florida and said, “We can be crazier than that.”
PigDog
It’s only a short leap from here to politicians pulling out their dicks, folks!
efgoldman
Bye, Felicia
I said in an overnite thread, he’s goddamned lucky some other concealed-carrier didn’t walk into the room and draw down on him. Of course, in the way of those things, the injured would likely be innocent third parties
mellowjohn
General Sherman should have finished the job when he was there.
Adam L Silverman
@BC in Illinois: @efgoldman: He’s really lucky he didn’t get hurt. And I don’t mean a self inflicted negligent discharge. South Carolina is a stand your ground state. But even if it wasn’t, drawing and brandishing a firearm could, and I would argue should, elicit a deterrent response. Whether it is moving on the person trying to draw their firearm and preventing it by physical means or responding with a weapon – firearm or otherwise – of one’s own to mitigate the threat. And regardless of why he did this or who he is, he should be charged with brandishing.
Thoughtful David
I think one of the people at the table should have reached quickly over and grabbed the gun and kept it pointed at the floor and then asked, “Feel safe now, Congressman?”
ETA “After all, it’s only an inanimate object, right?”
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: South Carolinians just aren’t joiners.
NobodySpecial
Take everyone who wants to leave and build a wall. We can even put Trump’s name on it.
Skepticat
The whole point of guns is that they’re dangerous. And in the hands of idiots such as this one, much more so.
Adam L Silverman
@Thoughtful David: Take the gun, pop the cylinder, unload the rounds from the cylinder, close the cylinder, pocket the rounds. Pocket the gun. Call the police.
Adam L Silverman
@Skepticat: That gun deserves a holster that has “I’m with stupid” and an arrow pointing inwards printed on it.
Millard Filmore
@efgoldman:
a) he is not a crack shot
b) a hand gun is not an accurate weapon
Brachiator
@MisterForkbeard:
So much irony that this bill was introduced by a South Carolina Republican.
Thoughtful David
@Adam L Silverman:
That too, but after asking the question.
Mary G
It wasn’t just constituents about gun control, either. It was the newly energized local branch of Moms Demand Action, who have teamed up with the Parkland kids and have been flooding state legislatures with mobs of mostly middle-aged ladies in red T-shirts who are PISSED OFF and have NFLTG. They are taking names and have already gotten stuff done, like Florida. They’ve been around a while and have their demands in order, and can tell a magazine from a clip, as if it matters. I joined and have followed them on twitter, and their meetings have gone from at most 20 people to hundreds.
This the NRA saying, OK little ladies, we’ve tried to be nice, but we will shoot you if we have to. They don’t get that it won’t work this time. The moms are beyond enraged.
Adam L Silverman
@Millard Filmore: A handgun, properly sighted and zeroed, in the hands of someone who has good marksmanship, can be very accurate. Especially within 25 yards. And depending on the gun, the ammunition, and the shooter, in some cases much farther out. A snubby .38 special not so much.
Baud
I’m glad it wasn’t a meeting about child pornography.
Adam L Silverman
@Thoughtful David: The question gets asked after I have positive control of the weapon and the ammunition. And someone has called the cops.
MaryRC
That’s some nice shade there, Mr. Robertson.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I’m a big fan of the following regarding religion:
“Your personal faith is like your penis. You can be proud of it. You can enjoy it. But don’t whip it out in public. Don’t wave it around. And don’t shove it in people’s faces, especially children’s.”
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: Hace never heard that before. I love that!
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Right after I dunk a basketball over Shaq
BruceFromOhio
CC permit means you get to carry it around. You pull it out, all bets are off. To show it off like that shows a lack of respect for the CC permit, the weapon, and the constituents.
And to pull out a gun when someone is shooting means you are now the shooter, dip shit.
I seriously wonder what the hell I would do in a situation this moron depicts. Freeze up in horror, go fetal on the floor, or run away as fast I as I can. Dear Gaia, to you I pray never to know this.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: I’m glad you weren’t in charge of implementatng the stigmata.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
I know nothing more about the congresscritter, but I’ll bet my morning donut ration that this doesn’t describe him.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Even if he does, shooting snubbies is difficult. I have a good friend who is a SWAT sniper. One of the best marksmen of his generation. One multiple national competitions. Some snubbies he can shoot accurately, others he can’t. They are an exceedingly finicky platform. There’s a reason they’re called bad breath or belly guns. Because you either shoot them at the range where you can smell your attackers (bad) breath or where you can jam it into your attackers belly.
Eural Joiner
Yeah. And guys, don’t forget, there’s a pretty good handful of us fellow travellers down here in the asylum! Send pizza :)
Vhh
@Adam L Silverman: Lucky for him he is melanin challenged. Brandishing a pipe just got a black guy shot.
JGabriel
I’m inclined to let them go this time.
Maybe SC conservatives, or the generations that follow them, will start to gain some vestige of sanity when SC absolutely fails as an independent state.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I saw it on a sign in news coverage of a protest rally.
Adam L Silverman
@Vhh: All plumbing matters!//
Frankensteinbeck
@JGabriel:
It would be so satisfying, but alas, like the US in general, I just can’t abandon the liberals to spite the conservatives currently in charge. And in true, honest morality, our creed is to pull everyone up, not just us.
JGabriel
@Brachiator:
If forced to choose between today’s parties, there is really no doubt that Lincoln would be a Democrat.
JGabriel
Frankensteinbeck:
We could do a trade, like Greece and Turkey – all of the US conservatives would be sent to SC, and all of SC’s liberals and self-identified liberal / social democratic-leaning independents would move to the US. Of course, that would cause massive upheaval, but would it really be any worse than the upheaval we’re experiencing now from right-wingers?
I mean, for god’s sake, Donald fucking Trump is president!
And allowing a president who is tearing the country apart is too high a price to pay to keep the country together. We need to create a homeland for conservatives where they can migrate and let the rest of the US move forward.
Calouste
I’m surprised Congressman Norman managed to let go of his Emotional Support Handgun for a few minutes without having a breakdown. There might still be hope for him.
Yutsano
@Adam L Silverman:
Even with the crude language, this is very much a Baha’i philosophy. Which is why most of us have to tell you our faith.
Schlemazel
@Adam L Silverman:
Statistics show that NYPD hit their intended target 18% of the time in an actual event (not on a range or other training exercise). They are trained, the practice and 4 out of every 5 shots taken when they are under pressure and frightened hit something other that the person they aimed at. I have no fail in that clowns ability to do it better.
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Best Kickstarter ever.
The Lodger
@JGabriel: This Congressman is from Rock Hill, a Charlotte suburb. If SC seceded a lot of his constituents would have to cross a border to get to work.
Adam L Silverman
@Schlemazel: There are a couple of issues here. The first is we have no idea just how much range/training time any specific NYPD officer puts in per month. The popular, for what it’s worth, understanding is that most law enforcement officers do not spend a lot of time training with their duty weapons. The second issue is that the NYPD mandates what is called the New York or NYPD trigger. This is a 12 lbs trigger pull. The NYPD, by policy, has mandated that their modern, semi-automatic duty weapons (either GLOCK striker fired or SIG P226 Double Action/Single Action) have the same trigger pull weight as the revolvers they used to use prior to the 1late 1980s/early 1990s). A 12 lbs trigger pull is not conducive to accurate shooting. And it defeats the purpose of either the GLOCK striker fired platform or the classic SIG P series DA/SA platforms. Which is a consistent pull on the trigger. Stock GLOCKs from the factory average a 5.5 lbs trigger pull weight. Stock SIG P226s from the factory average a 10 lbs pull weight in double action (the first shot) and then 4.5 lbs trigger pull weight in single action (all subsequent shots before the pistol is reset). Given the mandated 12 lbs pull weight and the indeterminate amount of range time for NYPD officers, it is amazing that they are on target 18% of the time. A 12 lbs trigger pull weight requirement on a duty weapon requires significant amounts of training to master the firearm, as well as to maintain proficiency.
Immanentize
@Adam L Silverman: That religion analogy might even be better that Gearge Carlin’s Religion is a Lift routine:. “Religion is like a lift in your shoe … But don’t go nailing lifts on the natives’ feet”
Corner Stone
@Adam L Silverman:
Good God. I had no idea the NYPD only hires weightlifters.
Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: I am very aware of Baha’i theology, doctrine, and philosophy. I’ve been to the shrine in Israel and have a number of friends who are Baha’i. You all are one of the few shining lights of religion.
Ridnik Chrome
This time, please, can we just let them go?
Adam L Silverman
@Corner Stone: Next time you’re at the gym, try lifting a 12 lbs dumbbell with just your index finger.
StringOnAStick
@Adam L Silverman: I also like this line from a Bruce Cockburn song: “Wave the flag, wave the Bible, wave your sex or your business degree. Whatever you want but don’t wave that thing at me.”. His expression of contempt comes through quite clearly when he sings it.
Gelfling 545
We might not put up such a fight about them leaving this time. Of course we’ll have to build a wall around it. Can’t risk illegal immigrants from SC.
Yutsano
@Adam L Silverman: Eh. We have our moments. The forbidding of homosexuality based on a misreading of one line in the Kitab-i-Aqdas (it’s clear in the context he’s talking about the old Persian custom of taking younger boys as lovers) does grate, especially since it’s literally the only discussion. But since I’m allowed my own interpretation I agree with no child diddling but homosexual relations aren’t prohibited.
And the gardens in Haifa are on my life bucket list.
NotMax
“Vote for me, I’m insecure and spend my days living in fear.”
Without so much as a trigger warning.
trollhattan
@Ridnik Chrome:
Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall!
Wild Cat
@PigDog: Like LBJ, allegedly, and we’re still paying for it.
sukabi
@Corner Stone: it’s probably mandated that way to cut down on the number of civilian deaths. Can’t claim accidental shooting if trigger pressure is set that high.
Mike J
Brandishing a firearm is a crime.
From the time I was a wee lad I was taught that you never get out a gun unless you’re ready to use it. It’s basic firearms safety of the type the NRA used to teach. Guns are not toys, nor are they props. Proper gun safety means your don’t take it out in public and swing it around so people can see how big it is.
Why do I think the NRA won’t so much as tut?
Corner Stone
@sukabi: I am sure they have their policy reasons. But all it encourages is wildly missing your target. I could not hit the broad side of a garbage truck with that much first long pull trigger weight. Much less a moving person.
feckless
1) Every gun owner is a responsible gun owner, until the second that he isn’t.
2) Secede? You guys, the illiterate great great grandchildren of the chumps who survived the first secession? Ha! it is to laugh.
Sherman stopped too soon.
r€nato
This time, let’s let them go.
Adam L Silverman
@sukabi: That is one of the reasons behind it. The other is the policy was mandated by senior NYPD officials that had come up through the force using revolvers. And not modern revolvers, but older models with heavy (10 to 12 lbs) trigger pulls. That’s what they were used to, so that’s what would be used on them new fangled semi-autos. Despite the fact that the semi-auto pistol was almost as old as the NYPD. Remember, NYPD officers in the revolver era (up to the late 80s/early 90s) were not allowed to carry speed loaders or speed strips to reload their revolvers. Rather they had to carry a pocket full of loose ammunition in case they needed to reload. As a result, many of them would just carry a second, smaller back up revolver. This led to carrying two guns, rather than backup ammunition – whether in speed loaders, speed strips, or magazines for semi-autos – being called a New York carry. Which is interesting because this was standard in the 19th century when the standard was cap and ball revolvers. Wild Bill Hickok was notorious for carrying this way – twin .44 caliber cap and ball revolvers carried in a sash over his belt.
Regardless, the 12 lbs trigger pull weight has the opposite effect. It makes it harder to be accurate, which increases the likelihood of hitting something or someone other than what one is aiming at.
raven
@Wild Cat: I got my eye on you. . .
Adam L Silverman
@r€nato: Obligatory!
Ksmiami
@MisterForkbeard: let them go this time okthxbai- and build a friggin wall
WhatsMyNym
@Adam L Silverman: I can’t imagine even target shooting with a 12 lbs trigger pull.
Yutsano
@Adam L Silverman: Still better in the original Norsk IMHO.
Ksmiami
@Mary G: @mellowjohn: pave it over
Yutsano
@Ksmiami: We get their liberals and whatever minority refugees that need/want to leave.
And no international passport compact. Visas on every visitor or GTFO.
Adam L Silverman
@WhatsMyNym: It would not be pleasant.
Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: Those are just the plans for the Vikings to invade Britain set to music.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
But he won’t be because he’s a white Republican congressman.
WhatsMyNym
@Adam L Silverman: Why do I get the feeling they kept that rule to try and keep women out of the NYPD??
Adam L Silverman
@WhatsMyNym: I honestly have no idea.
Corner Stone
@WhatsMyNym: When your adrenaline is cooking that 12 pound pull is not going to matter, whether you’re Arnold or Dobby. That thing is going to fire. It’s just the not hitting what you’re aiming at part that is ridiculous.
ETA, contra to the side comment Adam responded to me with, it’s not like using a finger to curl a weight (I know he knows this, just sayin’). You’re compressing/closing your finger back into your supported grip.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
Was that a pretty uniform rule across police stations around the US? That revolvers were the standard service weapon for police in the 80s?
Leto
Considering we’re still trying to get rid of our house there after almost 10 years, it might make it easier to just write it off if SC left. Every time I think about going back home (SC), shit like this pops up and reminds me why I’m still gone. Of course my only family is still there, so at some point I’ll be back.
J R in WV
I suspect that “stand your ground” wouldn’t work unless the shooting victim was actually holding his firearm in a threatening way. Once he laid it on the table, he was “safe” from stand your ground, as it may be hard to claim with a straight face that you felt in danger of your life from a gun no one was holding.
But I’m not familiar with SC firearms law in general nor stand your ground in particular, also IANAL anywhere… so this is based upon what I was taught in my CCW class here in WV. Those classes and the CCW permit itself is no longer required here, although they maintain the infrastructure for CCW permits in order for WV to have reciprocal carry permits with many other states.
Ruckus
@Leto:
Stationed in Charleston for 2 yrs, 71-73. It was an immense pleasure to leave.
Corner Stone
@J R in WV:
It was clearly an attempt at intimidation as well as messaging. If I were to hazard a guess, a case could clearly be made that not only would a reasonable person in attendance feel in danger for their lives, but also that imminent harm might happen to others in attendance.
Me in Barcelona
I hate myself for thinking it, but part of me wants to say “go for it: be part of the United States or be part of the Confederacy.” But I’m living through the secession crisis in Catalonia and secession movements are ugly, divisive and a waste of time.
Matt McIrvin
He says all this about not being a Gabby Giffords and then he puts his loaded gun out where somebody could grab it.
Leto
@Ruckus: I grew up there (just outside), but it’s one thing that I always tell people who say it’s such a lovely place/people are so friendly… it’s all a veneer. It’s the plastic facemask that they show to the people buying shit in their shops. Just give it a bit and the mask inevitably slips. Granted, not everyone. I have several friends who are quite liberal/progressive, etc.. but they’re definitely a small minority. Your state representatives are always reflective of your populace. Tim Scott, Trey Gowdy, Lindsey Graham, Strom Thurmond…
Part of me wants to go back to fight for change. At the same time, selfishly, I want to enjoy where I live. The area where we’re trying to get rid of our house doesn’t have a bookstore within an hour radius. Think about how that reflects upon the community there? About where priorities lie?
Ben Cisco
@Ruckus: I spent three years in Sumter. Witnessed (and drove through) my first and only Klan march there. Volunteered for Korea to get away.
glory b
Fun fact: Rock Hill was the first stop that the Freedom Riders took on their trip through the south. Probably all of you have seen the video of the Freedom Riders being grabbed as they got off the buses and beaten? It happened there.
I think one of the buses was set on fire there, but I’m not sure.
I bet no one is very surprised.
Ruckus
@Ben Cisco:
Very smart move on your part.
Sumter was as I recall not near as nice as Charleston.
Also in 1990 I was in Charlotte and the fellow who worked for me wanted to go to a shop just over the line in SC that may have had parts for a project that he was restoring. Long story but the shop owner had a white robe and pointed hat hanging on the back of the bathroom door. It was obviously older than him and had been passed down. We left soon after. The guy that worked for me is 80 and a trumper but back then he was very amazed that this kind of shit was still around.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Revolvers were the standard for a long time. Departments began to shift in the late 80s to semi-autos. This was largely a result of the perceived need to not be outgunned by the emerging narco-gangs. Some of this was the result of the 1986 Miami shootout that led to the deaths of several FBI special agents. It also led to the adoption of the .40 Smith & Wesson caliber by the FBI and then many other law enforcement agencies.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-marks-30-years-since-infamous-bloody-miami-shootout/
It was the naming of the Federal building in Miami for these special agents that Congresswoman Wilson was involved with getting the funding for and securing that it was named in their honor and memory.
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
If our PD issued revolvers I’m guessing Stephon Clark would not have been so thoroughly ventilated, certainly not subjected to a 20-shot fusillade*. I wonder if there’s any research on whether somebody holding a revolver is less inclined to shoot quickly. In my limited experience with the two types there’s something far more deliberate about watching the cylinder turn and hammer cock versus squeezing and wondering exactly when the bloody auto is going to fire.
*There’s video. I’m not watching any.
Adam L Silverman
@trollhattan: I think this is a massive recruiting, vetting, and training failure. This week got screwy, but I intend to do a post about it in the next couple of days.
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Looking forward to it. I’m constantly horrified at how the police unions always respond to these shootings, which I take as indicative of how deep the shoot-first culture lays. Our county DA is also a big death penalty fan and I suspect very averse to charging the officers. Also don’t know how the CA AG fits, in even as his office investigates separately. Then there’s our junior senator….
Ben Cisco
@Ruckus: The goings on in SC make me a little nervous because I’m right on the border. Gotta keep eyes peeled.
lgerard
The guy who introduced it is the same guy who previously tried to pass a law mandating that South Carolina only use and accept gold and silver coins.
Commonsense solutions to today’s problems!
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Not brandishing. Menacing, particularly in what he was implying.
Wild Cat
@raven: Further context appreciated.
LongHairedWeirdo
There was a time when everyone – *everyone* – would have agreed that you don’t have a gun to make a statement, and you don’t use a gun to make a statement. It’s a tool, for a particular purpose, one that should demand respect. It wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about, but it sure wasn’t the thing a person should brag about either – again, that’s using a gun to make a statement, not to serve a purpose.
The meaning of “responsible gun owner” sure has changed, but then, so has “conservative” – it sure doesn’t mean careful, slow changing, and working from solid, established principles.
The Other Chuck
Pretty macho for a guy who HASN’T been shot in the head.
But why bother. Pointing this stupid shit out doesn’t work anymore. These people will make a doody in their hand and smear it on the wall and millions will cheer it on. Nothing will ever change as long as these people are treated as normal functioning adults.
The Other Chuck
So the republican-controlled SC statehouse introduces a bill to secede from the tyrannical republican-controlled federal government?
Let’s just bookmark this so a future administration can be reminded to never take seriously a single word that ever comes out of SC again.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
I had an Indiana LTCH (License to Carry Handgun) for decades, and rarely carried with the exception of when I worked as a 3rd shift convenience store clerk.
The original reason I got it was of the exemption from the then 5 day waiting period for gun purchases.
When I did carry, concealed meant just that, concealed.
I didn’t advertise that I was packing and I sure would not have pulled it out in front of anyone absent legitimate self defense.
IMHO, the people who open carry or otherwise let the world know that they pack heat are just begging for a baseball bat to the back of the head.
Good handguns aren’t cheap and easily fenced.
Don’t even get me started on the dipshits open carrying AR-15’s.