When you’re losing, you might as well put on a brave face and finish the campaign. Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen to any candidate who has zero chance of winning? In Missouri, Democrat Lucas Kunce has no chance to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
Even with the deck stacked against him, it might be best for him not to shoot reporters. That’s what happened at a disastrous campaign event at a gun range. Kunce sort of shot a guy when a piece of shrapnel ricocheted off the target, which appears to have been too close for long guns, which some folks noticed as well (via KOMO 8):
The scene after Josh Hawley's opponent @LucasKunceMO accidentally shot a reporter at an event with Adam Kinzinger pic.twitter.com/OMtVjJ6dYr
— Mike Berg (@MikeKBerg) October 23, 2024
Shot…chaser@LucasKunceMO edition pic.twitter.com/nU2T1AoxIv
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) October 23, 2024
Former Marine lawyer and his clown buddy Kinzinger the fearless AF navigator manage to shoot a reporter with their awesome ignorance of safe firearms employment
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) October 23, 2024
Shooting long guns at 10 feet because they couldn't hit anything farther out
Pogues on the loose
Take cover https://t.co/gz7l7LjXVg
“Shrapnel can always fly.” Tell me you’ve never shot a rifle at a range before today without telling me.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) October 23, 2024
There is no excuse to have someone get hit like that unless you were shooting wrongly set up steel far too close because you had no idea what you were doing. https://t.co/1ZcO8zhXPv
According to NBC affiliate KSHB, reporter Ryan Gamboa was covering the event at a gun range near Kansas City.
Kunce was firing an AR-15 style weapon at the time Gamboa was struck. A piece of shrapnel ricocheted off a metal target and hit the reporter's arm. Kunce was later seen wrapping a bandage around Gamboa's injured arm.
“Always have your first aid kit handy. You never know what’s going to happen," Kunce said later in a news release. "Shrapnel can always bounce off of anything and you’ve got to be ready to go. We had four first aid kits here, and I’m pretty proud of that. We were able to take care of the situation, and I’m glad Ryan is okay and was able to continue reporting.”
Hawley’s response was perfect:
I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one 😂😂😂
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 23, 2024
Also, fantastic t-shirt right here:
- https://t.co/lyYdgPNFnl pic.twitter.com/NBCRm32CGY
— Magills (@magills_) October 23, 2024
Wow, Democrats are really taking Dick Cheney's endorsement seriously. https://t.co/QXnGyHhM9a
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 23, 2024
I’m sorry, but this tweet is INSANE. It contains multitudes. The longer you look at the photos, the worse it gets.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 23, 2024
1) They are shooting steel at 5-7 yards with rifles, which could’ve killed somebody given the force with which the bullets will ricochet off the steel targets at… https://t.co/S6jiawDlFe
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