Dragon’s Breath rounds are a type of ammunition typically fired from the chambers of 12-gauge shotguns. They can explode into fireballs up to 100 feet.They’re illegal under Chapter 724 of the Iowa Code. But you could have walked into a gun show on the Iowa State Fairgrounds last month and bought them, no questions asked.

Also for sale at that show were armor-piercing ammunition and bulk ammonium nitrate, the type of bomb-making material used to bring down the Oklahoma City federal building in a 1995 act of domestic terrorism. It destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within 16 blocks.

And then there were the smoke bombs. These are designed to look like Zyklon B canisters, which were notoriously used in Nazi death camps to exterminate Jews. And that's how the gun show was marketing them. Pictures taken by a visitor and shared with the Register show swastikas and Nazi skull symbols. Nazi and paramilitary SS flags were also for sale.

The visitor also shared them with Eddie Mauro, who is in a Democratic primary to challenge Sen. Joni Ernst. The visitor also described an ad he didn't photograph of the disfigured face of a black man targeted by a non-lethal round being sold.

Mauro sent a letter to the fair board and director Tuesday, expressing outrage. He called the Nazi propaganda, weapons and bomb-making materials at the Sept. 20 gun show, “deeply disturbing and shocking.”

“At least one vendor was selling incredibly dangerous and specialized ammunition, equipment, and materials," Mauro wrote, highlighting "specialty shotgun rounds (flechette, armor-piercing SABOT style... ) and materials used to create booby traps (tripwires, 12-gauge shell traps, nail traps, etc.).

“Our fairgrounds showcase the best our state has to offer year-round. For those reasons and more, I would like to believe that that the State Fair Board doesn’t fully understand what is being sold at gun shows on the grounds. I hope, and frankly expect, that this can be dealt with quickly.”

By Wednesday afternoon, he had received no response from fair officials.

In response to my questions, fair CEO Gary Slater emailed a statement saying the fair has a long tradition of renting out its facilities in the off-season and is not responsible for the planning or programming of non-fair events held in them. He said the gun show, like many events, uses buildings rented to "independent promoters," in this case, Tradeshow Productions Inc. My multiple attempts to reach the promoter and the gun show vendor, identified by Mauro as Dr. Atomic's Depot, were fruitless. Its website says, "For Recreational Use ONLY! I am not responsible for the mis-use of any products!”

That's easy to say after luring customers with images recalling gas chambers and glorifying hate crimes or domestic terrorism against the government.

Gov. Kim Reynolds sits on the State Fair board but her communications director also didn't immediately return a call for comment.

Officials at the Jewish Community Relations Federation (JCRF)and the NAACP of Des Moines had plenty to say. “It’s abhorrent that anybody is targeted for things they didn’t do and that would reflect poorly on their ethnicity, race or sexual status,” said Mark Finkelstein of the JCRF, applauding Mauro for his stand..

Calling on fair officials to take it seriously, Finkelstein said of both the ammunition for sale and the imagery, “This is a safety issue and an issue that impacts minority populations’ safety. Targeting ethnicities encourages other people either to do copycat actions or incites hatred and suspicion towards the parties affected.”

“My community feels like an attack on one community is an attack on all of us,” he said.

Des Moines NAACP President Kameron Middlebrooks said he was appalled by the racism and anti-Semitism and alarmed by the lack of regulation over gun shows.

“It’s a bad look for the state of Iowa, the fair and every resident of Iowa,” he said, observing that the fair should have regulations on whom it rents to, and should be "aware of what is being sold.”

In an interview, Mauro said he was astounded that “in a place of wholesome family fun,” under Iowa law “anyone could have walked in and purchased armor-piercing ammunition" and explosives and "wrapped that all into an SS flag without even receiving a background check."

As to "the hate and white nationalism that promotes," he said the state needs leaders who will "stand up and talk about that," without being bought by the NRA. "We're calling on the State Fair to know this is going on, to have policies not allowing bombs to be sold and to ban future vendors like that."

I emailed Slater asking if the fair sets any standards of decency or appropriateness in what is sold or exhibited on its properties. Would it permit a porn or strip show, for example, if legal? Do fair staffers monitor what goes on inside shows for legality and follow-up? Would they allow this vendor to return without restrictions?

He responded to say he had communicated with Tradeshow Productions and was assured all items displayed or for sale will be monitored to ensure nothing illegal is included at upcoming gun shows. "They will be watchful so that items that would offend or discriminate not be displayed or sold."

I fervently hope the company responds decisively to the vendor's outrageous promotion of hatred and violence against historically discriminated-against people.The "gun show loophole" may exempt gun shows from doing background checks on their buyers. But they're not exempt from hate-crime laws, civil-rights laws or common standards of decency and humanity.

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