--- title: Martin O'Malley is Pissed and Wants More Gun Control description: Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley urged Congress to pass gun control legislation in the wake of the Charleston shooting. canonical: https://time.com/3928841/martin-omalley-gun-control-pissed/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-19T19:41:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:22:37.016Z article:section: Politics og:title: Martin O'Malley Is 'Pissed' About Gun Control og:description: The Democratic presidential candidate urged Congress to act. og:url: https://time.com/3928841/martin-omalley-gun-control-pissed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc57d97896a6846fa/6988557035ba6fe9e6c0dd60/martin-omalley-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Democratic presidential hopeful and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley arrives for a campaign event at the Sanctuary Pub on June 11, 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Martin O'Malley Is 'Pissed' About Gun Control twitter:description: The Democratic presidential candidate urged Congress to act. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc57d97896a6846fa/6988557035ba6fe9e6c0dd60/martin-omalley-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Martin O'Malley Is 'Pissed' About Gun Control by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 19, 2015 7:41 PM CUT  Democratic presidential hopeful and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley arrives for a campaign event at the Sanctuary Pub on June 11, 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa. Democratic presidential hopeful and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley arrives for a campaign event at the Sanctuary Pub on June 11, 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 19, 2015 7:41 PM CUT Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley told supporters in the wake of this week’s South Carolina shooting that he’s “pissed” Congress is not passing more stringent gun control measures. “I’m pissed that after an unthinkable tragedy like the one in South Carolina yesterday, instead of jumping to act, we sit back and wait for the appropriate moment to say what we’re all thinking: that this is not the America we want to be living in,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in an email. Nine people were shot dead in a historically black church in Charleston on Wednesday. A 21-year-old white man, Dylann Roof, has been charged for the crime. O’Malley passed broad gun control measures as governor that included banning weapons, limiting handgun magazines to 10 rounds, and requiring gun owners to provide their fingerprints as part of their weapons licenses. The presidential candidate is now advocating nationally for a national assault weapons ban, stricter background checks, and fingerprint requirements. “I proudly hold an F rating from the NRA,” O’Malley said. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton on Thursday also called for new actions to curb gun violence. “How many people do we need to see cut down before we act?” she said, but didn’t lay out specific proposals. On Friday morning, O’Malley spoke on [MSNBC’s Morning Joe](http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/omalley--people-want-new-leadership-468138563683 "undefined") program and advocated coupling mental health programs with stricter gun control. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3928841/martin-omalley-gun-control-pissed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3928841/martin-omalley-gun-control-pissed/"},"headline":"Martin O'Malley Is 'Pissed' About Gun Control","datePublished":"2015-06-19T19:41:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:22:37.016Z","description":"Former Maryland Gov. 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