Gained popularity thanks to an ad about gun control released last month

Recent poll has Kander two points ahead of Blunt in upcoming election

A Democratic Senate hopeful could pull off an unlikely victory thanks to his gun skills.

Jason Kander, 35, is challenging incumbent Republican senator Roy Blunt, 66, in the race for Missouri. Kander had trailed behind Blunt for most of the race - until a 32-second video ad turned the tables.

The clip shows Kander, a former Army captain, wearing a blindfold while effortlessly assembling an AR-15 assault rifle.

At the same time, Kander explains why he is in favor of background checks - so that terrorists 'can't get their hands on one of these', he says before tilting the near-finished AR-15 upright.

'I approve this message,' Kander says defiantly after putting the gun together, removing his blindfold, 'because I'd like to see Senator Blunt do this.'

Democratic Senate hopeful Jason Kander has gained popularity thanks to a video ad (pictured) in which he assembles a rifle blindfolded in just 32 seconds

Kander, who served in Afghanistan, says on his campaign website that he felt a calling to join the military after 9/11. He is pictured in uniform

After serving in the military, Kander became Missouri's Secretary of State in 2012. He now lives in Columbia with his wife Diana and their three-year-old son True (pictured with him)

The ad has now gathered 1,115,329 views - 19 times more than Kander's second most-watched clip, released at the same time, in which he talks about his support for veterans.

A poll by Emerson College, unveiled in September, showed Kander two points ahead of Blunt in the Missouri Senate race.

Kander had fallen behind Blunt in most polls before and has trailed him again since then, but the ad has given him more visibility - and challenged Blunt in unexpected ways.

Missouri has some of the most lenient gun laws in the United States. Democrats like Kander are not expected to show off their skills with guns.

Blunt took three draft deferments when he was a college student during the Vietnam War, the Kansas City Star reported- a fact that contrasts sharply with Kander's recent experience in the military.

The campaign ad brings up Kander's past in the military (he is pictured in uniform), while Blunt took three draft deferments when he was a college student during the Vietnam War

Kander (pictured with his son True) had fallen behind Blunt in most polls before and has trailed him again since then, but the ad has given him more visibility

Kander had trailed behind Blunt for most of the race - until the 32-second video ad (pictured) turned the tables. A recent poll had Kander two points ahead of Blunt

While he puts together the rifle, Kander (pictured left and right in the ad), a former Army captain, explains why he is in favor of background checks

'Kander has been successful at establishing himself as something different from the typical Democrat as we see the presidential and the gubernatorial race moving in the opposite direction,' director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute Patrick Murray told the Wall Street Journal.

Kander, who lives in Columbia with his wife Diana and their three-year-old son True, says on his campaign website that he felt a calling to join the military after 9/11.

He served in Afghanistan, then became Missouri's Secretary of State in 2012.

But Republican leaders believe Blunt can still win the November 8 election.

'We have always known that Mr Kander had a good ad agency, that he is a veteran with a commendable record, that he is young and handsome,' chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Senator Roger Wicker told the Wall Street Journal.

'Now it turns out he can put a gun together and supposedly take it apart blindfolded. I daresay he might stay on a rodeo bull longer than Senator Blunt. He can undoubtedly do a lot of push-ups. None of that has anything to do with representing a right-of-center state in the United States Senate.'