Democrats Hate Gun Safety, Part Eleventy: Kunce’s Hilarious Gun Safety FAIL

Tell me you’ve never shot an AR-15 without telling me you’ve never shot an AR-15.

And the mainstream media will memory-hole this one in 3,2,1…

Hey, remember that time that Dick Cheney accidentally peppered his friend with birdshot, and the media didn’t shut up about it for a year? Of course you do; people who weren’t yet born at that time remember it. Now, remember that time when a Democratic Senate hopeful set up a “shooting match” for a couple of his friends and plenty of media, and a reporter got hit with a bullet fragment? Not yet, but you should.

You see, yesterday, October 22, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Lucas Kunce, set up a friendly shooting event at a private residence. He invited his friend, Republican-In-Name-Only Adam Kinziger, to participate. There, they set up with some steel targets and AR-15s, as well as a reporter to record it all, and prepared for a manly, Tim Walz-style photo op. And boy did that photographer ever get the shot! And by “the shot,” we mean “a ricochet.”

According to local news outlet KSHB 41, whose reporter Ryan Gamboa was injured, “Reporter Ryan Gamboa was covering the event at a private residence in Holt, Missouri — about 40 miles northeast of Kansas City — Tuesday afternoon when he was struck in the arm. It was unclear if he was struck by a bullet ricochet or another type of metal fragment.”

HMM, WHY EVER COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED???

Well, let’s have a peek at the image above, shall we? Are those steel targets I spy, about 7 yards away? And are they shooting at those steel targets with a centerfire rifle? Why yes, yes they are. The minimum distance to set up steel targets for rifle practice is 100 yards.

You don’t have to be a firearms expert to imagine how badly that could go. Steel is hard. It’s harder than anything from which we construct bullets. The physics demand that, under a certain range, ricochet and spall are absolutely inevitable. Frankly, it’s down to sheer luck that Gamboa wasn’t more badly hurt.

The more you look at this image, the worse it gets. Goodness gracious me, it looks like Kunce is wearing his eye protection up on his scalp, which is great if you’re worried about a bullet messing up your hair. If you’re worried about losing your eyesight forever, you wear them on your face.

Here’s the part I like best. That picture was selected by the Kunce campaign and posted on its X/Twitter account, as if it were something to be proud of. Reports KSHB:

“Before a political rally Tuesday night, Kunce said he was glad Gamboa was OK. Kunce told a different KSHB 41 reporter his campaign relied on the gun range’s safety protocols.”

Oh really? Because the first part of that article makes very clear that they are on a private residence. That means that any language about “the range” and its “protocols” refer to someone’s backyard, and someone’s house rules. Someone’s not-very-large backyard. Someone’s backyard with no apparent backSTOP. There’s no berm or hill visible just beyond the targets. Would you like to know how far a .223 can fly? Well, it varies based on the bullet weight and amount of powder, but the minimum is generally considered to be 500 yards, and they can absolutely get out past a mile.

I wonder what other occupied residences, roads, trails, and travel routes are within a 500-yard radius around that “range,” don’t you?

What really puts the “OMG cherry” on top of this “WTF sundae” of a shooting event is Kunce’s spin on it. Here’s what he said: “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.”

Is he really patting himself on the back for having had a first-aid kit handy? That’s the sort of thing everyone should have in the trunk of their car, and it’s the bare minimum for any range trip. That’s like congratulating yourself for putting your shoes on the correct feet. And yes, he really is claiming that “shrapnel can always fly”? I guess he’s right about that one, if you’ve set up your range the way Kunce has his. In fact, it’s pretty much a guarantee!

So, the next time you hear some anti-gun talking head banging on about how dangerous guns are, remember this: What they’re saying is only true when they’re the ones behind the trigger. Stay safe, my friends, and never go shooting with anti-gunners.