Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce has already come in for a heaping helping of well-deserved mockery after an event at a backyard "range" led to a reporter being hit with shrapnel. But Kunce's decision to fire AR-15s at steel targets about ten yards away, his co-hort Adam Kinzinger's decision to use an optic but no eye protection, the lack of a visible backstop behind the targets, and the presence of containers of Tannerite on the shooting bench the Democrats were using aren't the only troubling details about the photo op. 

As the Kansas City Star reports, one of the men who says he helped organize the event may not be allowed to legally possess or even touch a gun or ammunition. 

As Kunce and Kinziger were shooting, Chad Everett Downs remained nearby. Before the event, Downs spoke with a Star photojournalist, saying that the range was his but that the event was taking place at his neighbor’s residence. 

Downs said he lived “across the way” and said his neighbor allows him to shoot on the property. He showed The Star firearms that were on the table that belonged to him. 

Missouri court records show that Downs was charged with 17 counts of felony perjury in August by Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston. He has been issued a criminal summons and waived his preliminary hearing. His ex-wife in a court filing earlier this month alleged the man owns or has access to guns in violation of his bond conditions.

The allegations of perjury involve statements Downs made in a felony child abuse case, according to a probable cause affidavit signed by an investigator in the prosecutor’s office. The affidavit includes a case number for the child abuse case, but it doesn’t appear in Casenet, Missouri’s electronic court records system. 

When The Star called the Ray County Circuit Clerk’s Office, the person who answered said the case had been dismissed. After a reporter identified himself, a voice was heard in the background instructing the person not to speak, saying “that is not an open record.” 

Kunce’s campaign did not respond to questions about Downs. The Star was unable to reach Downs through a phone number listed online.

Democrats from Tim Walz on down have been trying to claim on the campaign trail that there gun control efforts won't hurt or impact lawful gun owners in any way, while keeping "dangerous" people away from guns. In fact, here's what Kunce himself said just two years ago, during his previous failed Senate campaign.

“When I go around Missouri, gun owners, non-gun owners, Republicans, Democrats, independents, they all want the same thing and that's to keep these weapons out of the hands of criminals, teenagers and terrorists,” Kunce said. “And, you know, real expanded background checks, which this doesn't have, and real red flag protections, which this doesn't have.”

Pointing to his experience in the military, Kunce said he supports raising the age limit to purchase a gun from 18 to 21.

“There is a world in which if you got the right amount of training and the right amount of observation, then I could go lower with that,” Kunce said. “It's not like I'm not gonna be draconian about this. But we need things that keep the weapons out of people who are going to be unsafe.”

Downs is apparently considered a dangerous person who isn't allowed to touch a gun under the conditions of his bond (or at least he was as of two months ago). So how did Kunce and Kinzinger end up using Downs' range (and maybe even his guns) for their little photo op the other day? 

Kunce intended for this event to show he's not a typical gun-grabbing Democrat, but the stunt instead revealed a shocking disregard for actual gun safety and a staggering lack of vetting on the part of his campaign team. The good news for Kunce is that this fiasco probably won't cost him the election. The bad news for the Democrat is that even before his disastrous display of dangerous disregard for range safety he was getting trounced by incumbent Josh Hawley in the polls, and the latest revelation about his trip to a range isn't likely to improve his standing among Missouri voters.