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Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota appeared to have difficulty loading a semi-automatic shotgun in a video posted online during his pheasant-hunting trip while campaigning.
Walz took part in the annual Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, Saturday, to kick off the season for the upland game bird, the Associated Press reported. Video posted to social media shows Walz struggling to load the shotgun while talking to reporters.
“It never fits quite right,” Walz said as he tried to load shells into the shotgun’s magazine.
“Governor, what kind of gun is it?” a reporter asked.
“It’s a Beretta A400,” Walz responded. “I bought it when I was shooting a lot of trap.”
Walz explained that he selected the gun due to a patented “KickOff” feature that reduced recoil.
“It doesn’t hurt your shoulder as much,” Walz said.
Users on social media noted that Walz’s shotgun appeared to be a semi-automatic Beretta A400 Xcel, which costs $2,159, while the stock with the “KickOff” technology is another $1,141.96, according to Beretta’s website.
Questions surrounding Walz’s retirement from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 arose after a 2018 Facebook post by retired Army Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends resurfaced, which shed light on the governor’s reasoning for leaving the unit just before its lengthy deployment to Iraq. Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio later accused Walz of “stolen valor” at an Aug. 7 campaign event, citing comments about gun control Walz made in a video posted on X by the Harris-Walz campaign, in which the Minnesota governor also claimed to have carried weapons “in war.”
Walz did not bag any pheasants during the annual hunt, according to the AP.
