After passing some of the toughest new gun laws in the nation, Connecticut Governor Dannell Malloy took to the airwaves to trash the NRA and others that oppose background checks.

“Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus. They get the most attention and that’s what he’s paid to do,” Malloy said referring NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre on State Of The Union.

Malloy expressed frustration with how the gun that was used in the Sandy Hook massacre was legally purchased in hist state before continuing to trash LaPierre.

“This guy is so out of whack, it’s unbelievable. 92% of the American people want universal background checks. I can’t get on a plane as the governor of the state of Connecticut without somebody running a background check on me. Why should you be able to buy a gun?”

Malloy pleaded with host Candy Crowley to bring NRA officials that are against gun background checks “back to reality” on her program. Malloy went further and chided Crowley for not being tough enough on gun rights advocates.

“You’re asking me about whether everyone should carry a gun and that’s the road to safety when in fact it is not,” said Malloy.

Crowley said that that isn’t what the NRA was advocating or what she was asking.

One of the more unusual problems facing Connecticut with this new gun legislation is that it is home to several firearm manufacturers. Many of them expressed their displeasure with the new regulation during the period before the law was passed.

“We’ve decided that public safety trumps all of that,” Malloy told Crowley. “I hope they stay and manufacture products that can legally be sold. But if they leave, that will be a decision they make. We’re not making them leave.”

Firms based in New Britain, Connecticut said last week that they were considering leaving the state and that Malloy’s assurances “meant nothing” to them.

Watch clip below via CNN.

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