Shooting guns at a range can be a fun and exciting activity. But recent events have raised concerns that being a Democrat at the gun range is an impediment to the safe enjoyment of this quintessential American pastime.
At a campaign photo op, Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce and former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger decided to tout their firearm bona fides as two military veterans by shooting some rifles at steel targets. But the outing turned disastrous when shrapnel from the activity nicked a reporter’s arm.
In a post on X, Kunce attempted to play off the outing as a great time and the injury as a perfectly predictable outcome for a day at the range.
“Great day at the range today with my friend Adam Kinzinger,” Kunce said. “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.”
The incident took place just weeks after Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, went pheasant hunting in a bid to burnish his credentials as a masculine figure. The stunt provided easy fodder for ridicule when Walz visibly struggled to load his gun and failed to bag a single bird.
But unlike Walz, Kunce and Kinzinger made fools of themselves and endangered themselves and their accompanying posse by disregarding basic range safety and good firearm shooting technique.
Even the most basic understanding of standard range safety would have prevented the injury to the reporter. Ricochets and flying shrapnel are not uncommon when firing bullets at steel targets, which is why there are guidelines for how far away one should be when firing a gun at a steel target. To put it simply, Kunce, Kinzinger, and the reporter are extremely fortunate that no one was seriously injured or even killed.
By reviewing the photos Kunce shared, we can reasonably conclude that he and Kinzinger were roughly 10 to 15 yards away from their steel targets. Their firearms of choice for this day on the range, according to the photos, were almost all rifles.
According to Action Target, a range management and installation company, steel targets can be safely fired at with a handgun at the distance that Kunce and Kinzinger fired from. But that does not apply to rifles, which the two men used that day.
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For a shooter to fire at a steel target with a rifle safely, the target must be at least 100 yards away from the shooter to ensure the safety of those at the range. This is why gun ranges typically separate their rifle ranges from their handgun ranges. Rifles fire larger bullets at a much higher velocity than handguns, which require a longer range to avoid the possibility of a dangerous ricochet or stray shrapnel.
Kunce and Kinzinger don’t understand basic gun safety because they are both liberals who support limiting private ownership of firearms but are trying to convince voters in deep-red Missouri that they are normal guys who like guns. They are lucky this stunt did not leave someone with a much more serious injury.