O’Malley uses Iowa gun show to call for reforms

CEDAR RAPIDS - Standing in front of one of the largest gun shows in Eastern Iowa Saturday morning, presidential hopeful Martin O'Malley called for gun safety legislation, saying such venues are the easiest places terrorists and criminals can obtain firearms.

The former Maryland Governor picked the three-day Hawkeye Downs gun show as his backdrop for a news conference to demand gun control, standing in freezing temperatures and praising President Barack Obama's executive orders, but refused an invitation from event organizers to tour the facility.

'You are standing at the easiest place in America for a psychopath, a murderer, or a terrorist to purchase a combat assault weapon, and that is a gun show in the United States of America,” he said, adding that ISIS tells its recruits gun shows are prime opportunities to score guns easily.

As gun show attendees drove behind him to enter the event, O'Malley promised that as president he'd build upon Obama's recent gun control actions with a ban on combat assault weapons. Among other things, Obama's orders require businesses that sell firearms obtain licenses to do so and conduct background checks on all potential buyers.

'I am the only candidate in this race with a clear record, leading with principle, bringing people together, getting things done,” O'Malley said, adding that he passed similar reforms during his tenure as Maryland's governor. ' ... And we did not interrupt a single hunter's hunting season. I've never met a self-respecting hunter that needed an AR-15 to down a deer. We can respect hunting traditions but we an also save a lot of lives.”

He criticized Republicans for 'bowing down” to the National Rifle Association, the strongest gun lobby in the United States.

'The NRA has one goal: to sell as many guns as possible, but that goal is not our national goal,” O'Malley said. 'If you take a tour inside, you can probably see why ISIL says the easiest place to buy combat assault weapons is here at a gun show in the United States of America. It doesn't need to be this way.”

But organizer's inside were unhappy with O'Malley's appearance, calling him cowardly for keeping his distance from the show and refusing to meet with the attendees and sellers.

'Cowardly might be the best word,” said Daryl Klein, president of Trade Show Productions, the group that organized the event. 'They're willing to use our event to promote their agenda without accepting the invitation that I extended to them to come in and actually see what we are and who we are because my guess is that man has never, ever set foot in a gun show.”