Democratic congressional candidate Rob Quist recently put out an ad saying that as a congressman, he would protect the right to bear arms.
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In the video, he loads, aims, and shoots a rifle which he says has protected his family’s ranch for generations.
One problem, though, is that he breaks several gun safety rules during the video.
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What’s going on in the ad? Quist is campaigning for Montana’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, and he fires a rifle at an opposition ad. He’s telling voters that he’ll support their second amendment rights throughout.
So what’s the problem? Quist’s attempt at getting second amendment rights advocates didn’t go so well, considering that several Montana gun groups noticed multiple safety violations made in the video.
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The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Quist’s show of solidarity with gun owners, however, contained “some pretty egregious gun safety violations,” according to the head of a Montana gun group.
“Mr. Quist is obviously not very familiar with firearms,” Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA) President Gary Marbut said, according to KGVO.com, the site of a local radio station.
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“He does commit some pretty egregious gun safety violations that would not be committed by any 13 year-old kid who had graduated from a Hunter’s Safety course,” Marbut continued. “This tells me that the firearms video is just staged to impress people, but that’s not really who he is.”
If you want to connect with people on gun rights, you’d better make sure you know how to handle a rifle, and not look like it’s your first time firing one.
Unfortunately for Mr. Quist, he made some mistakes that gave away his unfamiliarity with shooting rifles.
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Read More:
Washington Post: To deflect gun rights criticism, Montana Democrat shoots a TV
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What did Quist do wrong? For starters, he disobeys the very basic safety rule of only putting your finger on the trigger when you’re ready to shoot.
The Washington Free Beacon continues:
Marbut listed several problems he saw with Quist’s demonstration in his new ad, titled “Defend.”
“First, he had his finger on the trigger when he wasn’t prepared to shoot,” Marbut said. The MSSA leader took issue with Quist shooting a picture of a person and pointing his rifle at the cameraman.
“All that shows that he’s just not familiar with firearms and he needs to learn more about gun safety,” Marbut said.
Nice try Mr. Quist, but next time take a class before you pick up a rifle and try to convince voters you know what you’re doing.
