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Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican member of the House from Illinois, and Lucas Kunce, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Missouri, were caught committing several gun safety violations at a campaign event where a reporter was hit by a metal fragment.

Kunce hosted Kinzinger for a campaign event at his house where the pair fired rifles at cans which were positioned at most twenty-five feet away, resulting in a local reporter getting struck in the arm either by bullet ricochet or a stray metal fragment from the cans.

Even after the injury, Kunce wrote on social media that they enjoyed a “great day at the range” as they practiced the Second Amendment. “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 continued in the statement. “We had four first aid kits, so we were able to take care of the situation.”

Kunce was nevertheless mocked by conservative commentators over the numerous gun safety and usage mistakes evident by the pictures he shared from the incident.

Sean Davis, the chief executive of The Federalist, observed that “the force with which the bullets will ricochet” could have killed someone from that range, and that Kinzinger “holds his rifle like a complete ninny” while needlessly “using a high-powered scope” for the targets.

They also placed “at least two canisters” of explosive Tannerite powder on the table “down range from where guns are being fired,” while at some point the cameraman was himself “down range from all the guns.”

“Absolutely mind-blowing insanity from a candidate for a political party that wants to take away your guns because it claims you can’t safely own them,” Davis concluded.

The incident indeed comes as Kunce and several other Democratic Party candidates rely upon their supposed enthusiasm for shooting sports as a tool to dissuade voters concerned with their positions on increasing gun control. Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz has also appealed to his enthusiasm as a hunter to justify his opposition to firearm protections.