--- title: Rep. Ralph Norman Pulls Gun at Constituent Meeting description: During a "Coffee with Constituents" event Friday, Rep. Ralph Norman pulled out his gun and placed it on the table canonical: https://time.com/5231886/rep-ralph-norman-gun/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-07T14:51:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:05:25.860Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rep. Ralph Norman Pulls Gun at Constituent Meeting og:description: "I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords." og:url: https://time.com/5231886/rep-ralph-norman-gun/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeae7daa162ea27b/69892d1bab6d771fd36b2535/ralph-norman-gun-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3584 og:image:height: 2016 og:image:alt: Rep. Ralph Norman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rep. Ralph Norman Pulls Gun at Constituent Meeting twitter:description: "I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeae7daa162ea27b/69892d1bab6d771fd36b2535/ralph-norman-gun-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I’m Not Going to Be a Gabby Giffords.' Rep. Ralph Norman Pulls Gun at Constituent Meeting > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a630e699-270a-430d-bf83-ce29391be450&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Is How The NRA Got So Powerful [Watch (HLS stream): This Is How The NRA Got So Powerful](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M3qXfmOi.m3u8) (4:39)  _Published 2018-03-23. This Is How The NRA Got So Powerful_ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Apr 7, 2018 2:51 PM UTC This Is How The NRA Got So Powerful by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Apr 7, 2018 2:51 PM UTC During a “Coffee with Constituents” event Friday, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) pulled out his gun and placed it on the table. Norman kept the loaded .38-caliber handgun out while speaking about gun rights, according to [USA _Today_](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/04/07/congressman-draws-gun-meeting-constituents/495736002/). “I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” Norman said at the event, referencing the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot during an event with constituents in 2011. Norman also said that he would continue bringing his gun to future constituent meetings, telling [_The Post and Courier_](https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/u-s-rep-ralph-norman-pulls-out-loaded-gun-in/article%5Fea97bda0-39d3-11e8-b120-3b253f2be91e.html)_,_ “I’m tired of these liberals jumping on the guns themselves as if they are the cause of the problem. Guns are not the problem.” Gifford’s husband, retired NASA astronaut Mike Kelly spoke out after Norman’s comments saying the South Carolina representative is “no Gabby Giffords.” “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 said, according to USA _Today_. ## Transcript Everyone knows the National Rifle Association super powerful how to get that here's a brief history. And it was founded in 871. A civil war veterans concerned that their fellow yankees have forgotten hash and they started the NRA to fix. The whole idea was to promote rifle practice. Over the next few decades and Harry waited. Gently into politics in the 1930s for instance when gangsters with Tommy guns were all over the news congress debated a bill called the firearms act. Which is widely known as the first Republican controlled now. NRA opposed it lobbying congress to take out any mention pistols and revolvers but they were willing to live with regulations on some machine guns and shot him. So by today's standards pretty let's fast forward to the 1960s. We have civil rights movement urban riots. Students protesting the Vietnam War are rising crime rates and a number of high profile patients from JFK. And knocking him. To many mainstream America there's just this feeling that violence was overtaking us I. So in 1968. When the black Panthers began to carry guns as an act of Civil Disobedience. It was a bridge too far for middle class especially white Americans. Bob makers across the country and liberals and conservatives alike began pushing for gun control the Republican party's national park even supported gun control. On tough on crime grounds and in California governor Ronald Reagan led to gotten on charts. But there reaction must act. Gun owners and especially rural conservatives are ready alienated by rap and cultural shifts began to worry. Was the government coming for their hands. So they began mobilizing. Lobby him and joining me and I. Between 1964 and 1980s and Aaron membership tripled. And 600000. To nearly two million and its coffers exploded with near Dix and an hour is old guard. They still a lot of Danner and shooting clan. It was a weird time in 1977. New and banner it was extremely heartened about opposing all gun control. I am against the kind of gun control that is being talked in the congress of the United States. I see it is only something that would make it difficult for an honest citizen to own a gun but would do nothing at all to impede the criminal in his getting it done. And in 1980 endorse its first presidential campaign. Ronald Reagan. In the 1990s to gun control laws are passed. But they were relatively limited in scope and Celtics back. Since the Brady bill passed 250000. Felons fugitives. And mentally unstable persons have been stopped from purchasing. Handguns. And then in the early 2000 an hour I really began hitting extract from my cold dead. It rolled out its rating system issuing a plus a politician's most in line. And passed. Those favorite song voters take that system seriously. The right grade makes or breaks a politician's career a few years later and two dozen names in one huge Supreme Court case. Finding that the Second Amendment guaranteed private individuals. And not just a well regulated militia. A constitutional right. 2016. And IRAs and 419. Million dollars on political campaigns and more than. Thirty. On Donald Trump alone. There's no bigger fan of the Second Amendment a mean there's no bigger fan of the NRA it also endorsed front earlier than it had endorsed. Any presidential contender ever. I'm officially announcing the NRA's endorsement. Of Donald Trump for president. Okay. Today and I RA is nearly any master at the top of the political power but is also facing green and new talents. Furious. Teenagers. On you in the name of seventeen people you can now. The entire aid to keep their money out of your campaign after mass shooting in Parkland Florida. Young people have been staging walk outs and coat Tass and demanding exactly the kind of control. The NRA has spent the last few years I. And on many of the students can't even vote. In a few years and Aaron may have more to worry about it. It's it's. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5231886/rep-ralph-norman-gun/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5231886/rep-ralph-norman-gun/"},"headline":"'I’m Not Going to Be a Gabby Giffords.' Rep. 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