Ah, Lucas Kunce. The former Marine turned Democratic candidate to represent Missouri in the Senate.

What can we say about him that hasn’t been said already? Well, I said part of it, of course. His “shooting event” was an absolute disaster, resulting in a reporter being injured, and his attempt to spin it as a “grace under pressure” moment was laughable considering what he should know as a supposed combat veteran.

Yeah, that’s what I got hung up on because as a former Navy Corpsman, that’s where my foundation sort of lies.

But a lot of other people had a field day with Kunce’s event and quite a few caught some things I missed.

“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 that distance,” CEO of The Federalist and gun range owner Sean Davis said on X. “You would instantly get permanently banned at my range if you did that. Zero questions asked.”

“There are at least two canisters of explosive Tannerite powder on the table, down range from where guns are being fired,” Davis said on X. “That could’ve potentially killed or seriously injured someone if someone shot it or if someone was stupid enough to be shooting close enough to steel for a ricochet to hit it.”

…

“Democrats Lucas Kunce & Adam Kinzinger apparently accidentally shot a reporter at an event today,” Hawley spokesperson Abigail Jackson said on X. “Are these guys trying to make Tim Walz look competent with a gun?”

Davis is absolutely correct about the distances here. That range is fine for handguns, but rifles have more velocity and power, meaning this is one of those things that’s bound to happen if you are stupid like this.

At least one person with some range design experience in my circle of acquaintances noted that steel plates need something like a 10- to 15-degree angle to prevent that kind of thing from happening. I can’t really tell if they did that or not because I suck at determining angles from visual examination and I’m not afraid to admit it.

But now let’s talk Tannerite. Was it there?

Oh yeah.

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. We had four first… pic.twitter.com/Qu4YxfrtrU

— Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) October 23, 2024

Look at that first pic. See the orange labels sitting on the table?

That’s Tannerite.

It’s possible those were empty or something and just sitting there, but considering literally every other way they screwed the pooch, I’m skeptical. For one thing, most people aren’t dumping Tannerite into other containers all that often because why bother? For another, no one should be shooting Tannerite on that range. That’s something you should do at some distance because, you know, explosive.

The truth of the matter is that Kunce is trying to position himself as the alpha dog here. He’s trying to make a play for Missouri’s gun owners to at least sit this one out because hey, he’s just like them. He’s a shooter and he won’t attack their Second Amendment rights.

Of course, he’s said otherwise in the past–ironically suggesting raising the age in which people can buy guns because of supposed concerns regarding their training, for example–but he’s hoping people won’t notice.

However, what he managed to do here is make Tim Walz look competent with a firearm, which is saying something.

As I noted in my previous piece on this, Kunce isn’t exactly threatening in the polls. I can’t imagine accidentally injuring a reporter through gross incompetence is going to help with that.