South Carolina's attorney general won't bring charges against a Republican congressman who displayed a loaded gun on a table at a campaign event last week. 

Rep. Ralph Norman, who has served in Congress since winning a special election last year, said he took out the gun in front of constituents to demonstrate that guns are only dangerous in the hands of criminals. 

"I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords," he said afterwards — a comment that drew ire from Mark Kelly, the husband of the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot at a campaign event in 2011. 

Democrats argued that the action violated state law. But South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Tuesday that there was no "prosecutable offense." 

"Some have complained about the Congressman's actions," the attorney general's office said in a statement. "However, our conclusion must be based upon the law and sound prosecutorial discretion."

Norman is now facing another reelection contest against four Democrats, including 2017 foe Archie Parnell.