Democrat Senate Candidate Gets Torched After Reporter Injured at ‘Gun Range’

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is being challenged by Tim Kunce, a veteran, for his Senate seat in this year’s election.

Kunce has been playing off his military service to challenge Hawley, but it has not been working.

Kunce recently invited former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to his home range for a photo-op, but it literally backfired on him.

Disaster

Kinzinger, like Liz Cheney, is only a Republican in designation.

Both are now full-fledged Democrats, but they are keeping their Republican party affiliation because they want to be able to help Harris say she has Republicans backing her.

Both are also likely to be considered for posts in a Harris administration so that she can claim it is bipartisan.

Like Cheney, Kinzinger is stumping for Democrats against MAGA Republicans, in this case, Kinzinger is backing Kunce, who is down eight points against Hawley.

Kunce invited Kinzinger to his home “gun range,” which had a few cans set up on a table about 10 feet from the shooting stations.

The former military members were using AR-15s with long-distance scopes for the shooting, which is utterly ridiculous at that range.

The range itself was a massive hazard, with explosive materials directly below the weapons while they were being fired, and a weapon on a tripod in an area where it looked like it easily could fall over and possibly misfire.

There were also no backstops behind the targets, just open woods where someone could easily fall victim to a stray bullet.

At that range, cans were not the best choice of target, either, as fragments could go flying, which is exactly what happened here, with a reporter being wounded by a fragment during the photo-op by Kunce (he was the only one firing a weapon when the reporter was struck).

Even so, Kunce posted, "Great day at the range today with my friend @AdamKinzinger.

"We got to hang out with some union workers while exercising our freedom. Always have your first aid kit handy.

“Shrapnel can always fly when you hit a target like today, and you’ve got to be ready to go. We had four first aid kits, so we were able to take care of the situation, and I’m glad Ryan is okay and was able to continue reporting."

First, I would not consider a good day when someone gets shot, but that is just me. The hits were flying after that post, with conservative commentator Steve Guest posting, "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Shooting steel targets this close is a recipe for disaster."

Hawley Communications Director Abigail Jackson added, "Democrats Lucas Kunce & Adam Kinzinger apparently accidentally shot a reporter at an event today. Are these guys trying to make Tim Walz look competent with a gun?"

Federalist CEO and co-founder Sean Davis pulled no punches, posting, "Absolutely mind-blowing insanity from a candidate for a political party that wants to take away your guns because it claims you can’t safely own them.

"You could’ve killed somebody today, you freaking moron. What kind of a brain-dead idiot shoots steel inside 10 yards with a rifle?"

Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross made my point, responding, "They were shooting at a metal target a few years [yards] away and apparently some shrapnel or ricochet hit a reporter covering the event on the elbow. 'Great day at the range.'"

Kunce tried to fire back, saying the “range” was overseen by an NRA training counselor, then posted a video of Hawley exiting the Capitol on January 6 with the caption, “the last time Josh Hawley saw a gun.”

This is all political theater, and it will not help Kunce, who has also made some rather curious claims about his military career.

With an 8-point lead and only two weeks to go, I am going to say that Hawley’s seat is pretty safe.