The South Carolina Democratic Party is asking their state’s law enforcement officers to investigate an incident during which Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., pulled out a loaded gun during a meeting with constituents.
Trav Robertson, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, sent letters to the chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the South Carolina attorney general requesting an investigation. In a separate letter to the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Robertson requested felony charges be filed against Norman regarding the incident.
“Congressman Norman has important questions to answer for law enforcement and the people of the 5th District,” Robertson said in a statement, according to the Herald.
“Does he feel it’s appropriate to intimidate his constituents to make a point? Did the constituents in the meeting feel threatened? Do the members of his staff who were present and armed have [concealed weapons permits]? Does he always carry his weapon, as he claims, even where it’s illegal to do so? Does he carry his weapon on Capitol Hill? Has he ever had it on federal property? Apparently, he feels that it is not enough to simply scare his constituents with his voting record, he also has to scare them with a loaded gun,” Robertson continued.
Norman pulled out his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson while discussing gun violence with constituents at a South Carolina restaurant Friday.
“I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” Norman said, referring to the former Arizona Democratic congresswoman who was critically injured by a gunshot wound to the head in 2011. “I don’t mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I’m shooting back.”
The Republican congressman later said he wanted to show constituents that “guns don’t shoot people, people shoot guns.”
In his letters to the state officials, Robertson said Norman “presented his loaded firearm without an imminent threat in a public setting.”
A spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division told the Herald it would review the request once the agency sees “what it asks for specifically.”
