“So Kunce’s stunt at the fake gun range – where he shot the reporter – was organized by a criminal?” Republican U.S. Senator for Missouri Josh Hawley asked in a Thursday post on X.  Who is not supposed to have access to firearms? What is going on here”

What was going on was a photo op designed to assure union über alles Fudds that they could replace a sitting Republican senator with Democrat Lucas Kunce and their guns would be safe.  To create the illusion of bipartisanship, unelectable Never Trumper Adam Kinzinger, once elected under a fraudulently-obtained NRA A-rating,  joined Kunce in perpetuating another fraud turned talking point that Vichycon turncoats put “country over party.”

What happened next may have been karma, or it may have just been the predictable result of ignoring multiple basic safety rules and shooting steel targets from too close range. Evidently, a bullet fragment ricocheted and hit a “reporter” (read “publicist there to perpetuate the lie that Democrats believe in the Second Amendment”). That, in turn, led to desperate face-saving claims from Kunce about how he promptly issued first aid, as if that showcases anything but a response to a life-threatening incident that never had to happen in the first place. And while the sheriff attributes that to an “accident,” substituting  “negligence” hardly seems out of line.

That was bad enough, but the new twist Hawley referred to adds a whole ‘nother dimension to the clown show photo op, and a potentially criminal one. He attached a screenshot from a Kansas City Star article showing a highlighted paragraph about Chad Everett Downs, reported to be the gun range organizer who “showed The Star firearms that were on the table that belonged to him.” The relevant section reads:

“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 story continues, then noting the case  “doesn’t appear in Casenet, Missouri’s electronic court records system” and while the Ray County Circuit Clerk’s Office “said the case had been dismissed [but apparently not the perjury charges]” the office would not speak on it because “that is not an open record.”

Further background on Downs’ legal troubles is documented in a KMZU report from 2022:

“Richmond man jailed on 4 felony charges… Chad E. Downs[was] charged with Armed Criminal Action, Assault or Attempted Assault, Possession of Marijuana, and Unlawful Use of a Loaded Weapon while intoxicated.”

And in a yet further development, per a Daily Caller report, Downs “says [the] reporter got shot because he and Kunce ‘didn’t listen’ to instruction… He said he was there and that Kunce and the reporter did not listen when they were told where they should stand while shooting.”

As this is being written there have been no further published developments in ascertaining if Downs having guns violates a court order, and while Second Amendment advocates decry laws that disarm without due process, it’s nonetheless instructive to note those are exactly what Democrats demand.  While Kunce is talking great pains to present himself as a “pro-gun Democrat,” and even if he ends up voting against an “assault weapon” bill banning the very guns he and Kinzinger (who told reporters he was “open to” a ban after Uvalde) were shooting, his election to the Senate would put him in a position to pass other Democrat citizen disarmament priorities, like the “stronger action on guns” he’s already threatened, including “red flag laws,” “expanded [registration enabling] background checks,” and raising the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

Plus, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t vote for a semiauto ban, especially in the event of another bloody “gun-free zone” exploitation of sufficient outrageousness. And more dangerous than that, if elected Kunce would have an advise and consent confirmation vote on judicial, including Supreme Court nominees.

True, imperfect Republicans produce the occasional Kinzinger and more than occasional “compromising moderates,” and that’s something gun owners need to hold feet to the fire over.  That said, there’s an inescapable and undeniable conclusion: There may be some nominally “pro-gun” Democrats. There are no pro-Second Amendment Democrats.

Only a lying apparatchik or an idiot Fudd would ever tell you otherwise.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.