Kris Kobach Defends Parade Jeep Outfitted With Replica Machine Gun

A city in Kansas apologized after GOP governor candidate Kris Kobach rode in a vehicle outfitted with what looked like a machine gun during a weekend parade. 

Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, rode in Shawnee’s parade in a red, white and blue Jeep that had a replica of a loaded machine gun mounted on it. He proudly tweeted photos of his ride, saying, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

But others criticized the display of firepower in a parade that children were watching.

“It was pretty shocking. There were audible gasps from the folks we were sitting by,” the Rev. Johnny Lewis, pastor of Shawnee Community Christian Church, told the Kansas City Star .

Lewis said on Facebook that his 6-year-old daughter found Kobach’s vehicle disturbing, especially when many children have fears of school shootings.

“Why was that necessary sir?” Lewis wrote. “My child didn’t need that today.”

Even some supporters of the Second Amendment were critical of Kobach, The Washington Post said.

“I’m a lifelong conservative and strong believer in the second amendment, and I found your float extremely tacky and inappropriate,” one person wrote on Facebook.

Kobach was invited to appear on “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday morning to discuss what he called the “snowflake meltdown” about his parade appearance.