US congressman pulls loaded gun at constituent meeting

A US congressman said he pulled out a loaded Smith & Wesson pistol during a meeting with gun control activists Friday in a bid to prove that firearms are not responsible for violence. House Republican Ralph Norman of South Carolina told The Post and Courier newspaper that he drew the handgun and placed it on a table while at a "Coffee With Your Congressman" event at a diner, in an attempt to convey that guns are only dangerous if in the wrong hands. "I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords," said Norman, 64, referring to the former congresswoman from Arizona who was shot in the head during a meet-and-greet outside a grocery store in 2011.