Republican Rep. Ralph Norman pulled out his loaded, personal .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun Friday and laid it on the table at a diner where he was meeting with his constituents in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Norman told CNN he wanted to make a point in the debate over gun violence.
“I merely proved a point that guns themselves are not the issue,” he said.
Norman said that having a loaded gun in the room should, if anything, have made people feel more safe.
“Given the scenario that if someone had walked into that diner and began to fire a weapon, I told them I would be able to defend myself and them as well,” he explained.
The Post and Courier previously reported the incident.
“I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” Norman told the newspaper, referring to the Democratic former congresswoman from Arizona who was shot at a constituent gathering in her district in 2011. “I don’t mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I’m shooting back.”
In a statement to CNN provided by his communications director, Norman added: “Mental health, and more importantly, a lack of morality, is the driving force behind this epidemic. Guns are not the problem.”
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: CNN, Annie Grayer
BCNN1 WP 