History shows, when anti-gun politicians take to the field, gun owners have good reason to be concerned. There is a time-honored practice of gun control-supporting political candidates seeking to bamboozle low information voters by throwing on some camo for a naïve, or collaborating, press corps.
On October 12, the Harris-Walz campaign renewed this tiresome tradition when it had vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) don hunter orange and pick up a shotgun for opening day of pheasant season in Minnesota.
A genuine day in the field, or a lame and cynical public relations stunt? Well, the Minnesota Star Tribune noted that Walz was accompanied by “roughly two dozen reporters” and “a pool of digital influencers.” According to reports, Walz didn’t bag any pheasants or fire his shotgun.
However, Walz’s well-publicized stroll through a field did garner something the governor wasn’t hunting for – viral infamy. At one point during the outdoor photo op, Walz was videoed appearing to have difficulty operating his Beretta A400 shotgun. The moment caused such a stir that some in the media have attempted to rehab the governor’s gun owner credentials following the awkward video. Readers can watch the video for themselves and make up their own minds.
What isn’t in dispute is the Harris-Walz ticket’s anti-gun and anti-Second Amendment record.
Walz has made clear that he wants to ban commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms like the AR-15. The vice-presidential candidate even inflated his own military record to argue for a gun ban. Walz told a crown in 2018, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.” Records of Walz’s military career show he never served in a combat zone and was never exposed to enemy fire.
As for Kamala Harris, she has supported banning and confiscating commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, total handguns bans, home inspections for gun owners, and has opposed the individual right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment.
Astute gun owners might draw parallels between the Harris-Walz campaign’s pheasant hunt stunt and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s campaign. After the Democrats lost the 2000 presidential race, according to President Bill Clinton because of NRA and the gun issue, the well-heeled anti-gun senator from Massachusetts attempted to cultivate an everyman image going into 2004.
Kerry made sure to have himself pictured handling shotguns on several occasions. The candidate’s ploy culminated in October 2004 with what the New York Post described as, “an Ohio goose hunt that was elaborately staged for 35 photographers in a bid to hunt rural votes by portraying him as a down-to-earth kind of guy.”
Sound familiar?
With enough well-informed and active gun rights supporters, the Harris-Walz campaign’s version of Kerry’s 2004 act should bear similar results.
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