Flake slams GOP lawmaker for suggesting Giffords wouldn’t have been shot if she was armed

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) ripped Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) for suggesting that former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) wouldn’t have been shot if she had been armed.

“I sincerely hope you never have to experience what my friend @gabbygiffords experienced. But to suggest that she might have avoided being shot had she carried a weapon as she spoke to constituents that morning is inappropriate and inconsiderate,” Flake tweeted early Saturday.

Giffords was shot in the head during a constituent event in 2011. She survived her injuries and has since emerged as a major advocate for gun control.

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Norman pulled out a loaded handgun during a meeting with constituents on Friday. He told The Post and Courier Friday that he used the weapon to make a point about how guns can be used in self-defense.

“I’m not going to be a Gabby Giffords,” Norman said. “I don’t mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I’m shooting back.”

The February mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school sparked a national debate on gun laws, but efforts to pass gun legislation have since stalled in Congress.