Martin O’Malley, a long-shot seeking the Democratic nomination for president, told supporters Friday he’s “pissed” about the National Rifle Association’s influence keeping lawmakers from passing new gun control measures.
The former governor of Maryland made the comments in response to the “unthinkable tragedy” in Charleston, South Carolina, where a gunman shot and killed nine parishioners attending a Wednesday prayer service.
“I’m pissed that we’re actually asking ourselves the horrific question of, what will it take?” O’Malley said in an email. “How many senseless acts of violence in our streets or tragedies in our communities will it take to get our nation to stop caving to special interests like the NRA when people are dying?”
O’Malley boasted that as governor, the NRA gave him a failing rating when it came to the Second Amendment.
“I proudly hold an F rating from the NRA, and when I worked to pass gun control in Maryland, the NRA threatened me with legal action, but I never backed down,” he said.
He called for a national “assault weapons ban,” “stricter background checks,” and “efforts to reduce straw-buying, like fingerprint requirements.”
“The NRA is already blaming the victims of yesterday’s shooting for their own deaths, saying they too should have been armed,” O’Malley said. “Let’s put an end to this madness and finally stand up to them.”