A Missouri Democratic Senate candidate — and Marine vet — who often smugly touts his gun safety expertise online is being viciously mocked after a journalist was struck by a stray bullet fragment during a campaign event at his haphazard backyard shooting gallery.
Photos from the ill-conceived gathering — which one observer likened to “A Where’s Waldo for ‘things that would get you perma-banned from any state-regulated gun range’” — show Senate hopeful Lucas Kunce firing a scoped AR-style rifle at what appear to be aluminum cans from about 25 feet away.
The event was held at his home in Holt with supporter and former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger and local union members.
As Kunce fired, KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa was struck in the arm, either by a bullet ricochet or another stray metal fragment.
His injuries were minor, and Kunce was among those who rendered first aid at the scene, but X users relentlessly trolled the Democrat’s pictures of the event, which they said show evidence of disregarding every gun safety best practice in the book.
“Great day at the range today with my friend [Adam Kinzinger]. 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,” Kunce wrote in an X post viewed more than 14 million times.
“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,” added Kunce, who is hoping to unseat Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) next month.
The negative responses came flooding in by the thousand, with many in disbelief about the lightheartedness with which Kunce shared the news and the accompanying pictures.
“‘Great day at the range’? Bro, you literally shot someone,” one X user said mockingly in response.
“Why are you using a scope when you are 10 feet away?” another wondered.
“You absolute idiots. All of your gun rights should be suspended until you take a multitude of safety classes,” a third commenter scolded.
In a picture showing the men positioned behind a pair of weathered wooden tables covered with firearms, the user pointed out Kunce’s safety glasses were resting on his head as he peered into the scope — and that Gamboa wasn’t wearing any ear protection.
Others observed there didn’t appear to be any safety backstop to prevent errant rounds from entering the woods behind the targets, which were arranged on rickety, uneven tables.
Many were curious why the 13-year Marine veteran would use such a powerful rifle — which have an effective combat range up to hundreds of yards — on targets barely spitting distance away, much less with a scope.
Stephen Gutowski, journalist and founder of gun policy and politics publication The Reload, told The Post that the gun range’s setup likely contributed to the mishap.
“From the pictures of the incident, it appears the issue stemmed from them shooting at stationary steel targets with a rifle at a short distance. Shooting steel always carries some level of risk of ricochets or bullet splatter,” he shared.
“However, that risk is usually mitigated by having the steel hang in a way that allows them to swing and by only shooting steel with a rifle at much longer distances.”
The Kunce campaign did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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