Gov. Walz’s ‘Hunt’ for Harris Votes Misses

By Mark Oliva

Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz dressed the part. He even brought a shotgun. But that’s where his plan to hunt up votes from sportsmen and women missed the mark.

Turns out, Gov. Walz, like so many other politicians vying for political office, fail the authenticity test when it comes to earning voter trust that they’re just regular hunting guys, like the rest of us. They’re just politicians camouflaged in blaze orange, fumbling in a field. Hunters aren’t buying it. Voters aren’t either. Even liberal foreign media are making what should have been trigger time into a punch line.

Gov. Walz, the vice presidential nominee to Vice President Kamala Harris on the Harris-Walz ticket, invited media on the Pheasant Hunting Opener in Sleepy Eye, Minn. It’s a small city about 100 miles southwest of Minneapolis. There, Gov. Walz stepped into the field surrounded by dozens of cameras but very few shotguns to take a few pheasant. The whole event was a photo op aimed at bagging sportsmen and women voters who might still be on the fence. That’s when things fell apart.

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ILLEGAL FIREARM? Did Tim Walz violate state and/or federal law by using a magazine that was too large? It sure sounded like he loaded five shells into his shotgun. Tim's handmade Italian shotgun can hold 4 shells in the magazine and 1 in the chamber. Bird hunters know that you've… pic.twitter.com/4gpruEz3sA

— @amuse (@amuse) October 13, 2024

Gov. Walz struggled to load his shotgun – the same shotgun he’s repeatedly told media he’s fond of shooting. “Tim Walz looks as comfortable loading a shotgun as Kamala does answering basic questions,” said Buck Sexton in response to the video of Gov. Walz loading his gun, according to Fox News.

“After watching Tim Walz trying to handle a shotgun, I officially retract any criticism from him avoiding combat zones,” added conservative commentator Jason Robertson, alluding to accusations of “Stolen Valor” Walz faced earlier in the campaign. “He is a HERO.  He is so bad with a weapon that he saved American Lives skipping the War Zone.”

The hunting expedition raised other curious questions upon closer examination. Social media pounced on the unforced error by the Harris-Walz campaign, but one account – @amuse – pondered whether Gov. Walz violated state or federal laws. The shotgun he used, the Beretta A400, is capable of holding five shotgun shells – one in the chamber and four in the magazine tube. Hunters are restricted to just three shells and must have a plug in their guns. The social media channel watched and listened and it appears Gov. Walz may have loaded five shells into his gun.

There is an exception if hunters are only hunting pheasant, which are not migratory birds. Then, there is no limit in the shells a shotgun can hold. That is, unless a hunter is in a Waterfowl Production Area (WPA). If that’s the case, the gun must be plugged to limit it to three shells.

Turns out, Sleepy Eye is in the Windom Wetland Management District, which includes 17,000 acres of federal WPAs across 13 Minnesota counties. These are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS), which incidentally, the Biden-Harris administration is incrementally opening more access to hunt these areas but eliminating the use of traditional lead ammunition – which is typically used to hunt pheasant.

Hunters in those NWRs must follow federal regulations which require shotguns to be plugged and limited to three shells.

Anti-hunting advocates have no worries. Not a single pheasant was harmed. Still, Gov. Walz might have some explaining to do. And more than just to prospective voters.

Camo-Patterning Politicians

This isn’t the first time politicians have gone toting guns and hunting for votes – literally and figuratively. President Barack Obama never tried telling voters he was a hunter but did once post a photo of him shooting at the Camp David skeet range that NSSF had helped refurbish. The photo was lampooned by some as inauthentic and even NSSF responded, saying, “Mr. President, try leaning a little further forward into the shot to better manage recoil.  Keep your feet about shoulder width apart, and put more weight on your leading foot.”

NSSF added, “We were honored to provide this service for the office of the Presidency, and our investment appears to be paying off by recruiting new shooters,” wrote NSSF’s Larry Keane, in a statement announcing its involvement in the range. “Welcome, Mr. President.”

Before President Obama’s photo, there was then-U.S. Sen. John Kerry who was challenging President George W. Bush in 2004. Then-Sen. Kerry took along 35 photographers for a “goose hunt” in Ohio just weeks before election day. He said he “bagged” one goose and waved a bloody hand as proof but wasn’t carrying his own bird. He was carrying a borrowed shotgun and bought the required licenses and stamps.

NSSF noted at the time that then-Sen. Kerry was embarking on a made-for-media hunting trip.

“The only thing Senator Kerry is hunting today is the all-important sportsmen’s vote,” said NSSF’s Larry Keane as reported in the UPI, noting that like Gov. Walz today, Sen. Kerry supported bans on guns, mandatory locks and universal background checks.

“Senator Kerry only plays a sportsman on TV. Away from the cameras, he would ban semi-automatic shotguns commonly used in hunting and recreational shooting enjoyed by millions of Americans,” said Keane. “The senator’s rhetoric and play-acting aren’t fooling anyone. Kerry the ‘hunter’ is endorsed by radical anti-hunting organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Fund for Animals.” Sen. Kerry’s goose hunt cooked his “goose” as he went on to lose Ohio and the election.

Hunters know this ruse, which is why it caught so much blowback then and now. One of the rules for firearm safety is to know your target and what’s beyond it. That’s something Gov. Walz and the Harris-Walz ticket missed. They saw their target: the sportsmen and women voters. They didn’t see what was beyond, including that hunters know a fake when they see one, no matter how much camo – or blaze orange – the politician wears for the camera.

About the Author

Mark Oliva is NSSF’s Managing Director of Public Affairs, The Firearm Industry Trade Association. He is a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant with 25 years of service, including tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Albania and Zaire.

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