Minnesota’s Democratic Governor, Tim Walz, seemed to encounter challenges while loading a semi-automatic shotgun in a video shared online during his pheasant-hunting excursion as part of his campaign activities. Walz participated in the annual Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, on Saturday, marking the beginning of the season for upland game birds, according to a report by the Associated Press. Footage circulated on social media captures Walz having difficulty loading the shotgun while engaging with reporters.
“It never fits quite right,” Walz said as he tried to load shells into the shotgun’s magazine.
Watch:
Social media users have observed that the shotgun owned by Walz seems to be a semi-automatic Beretta A400 Xcel, priced at $2,159, with an additional cost of $1,141.96 for the stock featuring “KickOff” technology, as indicated on Beretta’s official website.
Concerns regarding Walz’s retirement from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 emerged following the resurfacing of a 2018 Facebook post by retired Army Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends. This post provided insight into the governor’s rationale for departing from the unit shortly before its extensive deployment to Iraq. Subsequently, Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio accused Walz of “stolen valor” during a campaign event on August 7, referencing statements made by Walz about gun control in a video shared on X by the Harris-Walz campaign, where the Minnesota governor asserted that he had carried weapons “in war.”
