Well, here’s something you don’t see every day: a Democratic Senate candidate firing an AR-15 at a gun range—and managing to injure a local reporter in the process. Yes, you read that right. Lucas Kunce, a Missouri Senate hopeful, was at a shooting event on Tuesday when things went off the rails.
Kunce posted about the incident on X (formerly known as Twitter), apparently proud of his time with former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. His post read, “Great day at the range today with my friend @AdamKinzinger… Shrapnel can always fly when you hit a target like today, and you’ve got to be ready to go.” He added, “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.”
Hold on a second—Kunce is talking about shrapnel and first aid kits like it’s no big deal. You’d think this was a bake sale, not a shooting event where someone got hit by a bullet fragment. KSHB-TV’s Ryan Gamboa was that unlucky reporter, and according to the Kansas City Star, Kunce wrapped up his wound with gauze. Nothing like a Senate candidate doubling as your emergency medic after getting hit by stray metal!
It didn’t take long for the incident to blow up on social media, with conservatives unleashing a barrage of criticism. Senator Josh Hawley quipped, “I know the Kunce campaign needed a shot in the arm, but this is taking it a little far…” Abigail Jackson, Hawley’s communications director, wasn’t pulling any punches either: “Are these guys trying to make Tim Walz look competent with a gun?” she posted on X.
Steve Guest, a conservative communicator, called it “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,” pointing out the obvious risks of shooting steel targets up close with an AR-15. But perhaps the most blunt reaction came from Federalist CEO Sean Davis, who blasted Kunce with, “You could’ve killed somebody today, you freaking moron… What kind of a brain-dead idiot shoots steel inside 10 yards with a rifle?”
And that’s really the question here: What kind of judgment are we looking at from a guy who thinks it’s perfectly fine to shoot at steel targets close enough for ricocheted bullet fragments to hit a bystander? This isn’t just a lapse in range safety—it’s political incompetence on full display.
For a candidate representing a party that’s been all too eager to lecture gun owners about safety, Kunce’s blunder is, well, rich. And the irony wasn’t lost on Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross, who summed up the scene as, “’Great day at the range.’”
Kunce, trying to shift gears, assured folks that the range was run by a certified NRA training counselor, and that “safety is important.” Yet, that didn’t stop him from posting a jab at Hawley with a clip of the Senator running through the Capitol on January 6, adding, “The last time Josh Hawley saw a gun.”
It’s not every day you see a Democratic candidate trying to win over conservatives with a shooting event, only to end up reinforcing their worst fears about liberal gun control advocates. You’ve got a guy who claims to value the Second Amendment, but who can’t even run a shooting range without sending a reporter home with a fresh wound. Maybe next time Kunce decides to play with guns, he should leave the AR-15 to those who know what they’re doing.
