The White House released Saturday a photo of President Barack Obama firing a gun, backing the President’s claim to be a skeet shooter.
This photo comes after the President admitted in an interview with The New Republic magazine to shooting firearms. Which (needless to say) came as a surprise to many.
"Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," Obama said in the interview released last weekend, referring to the official presidential retreat in rural Maryland, which he last visited in October while campaigning for re-election. Asked whether the entire family participates, the president said: "Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there.”
Monday, the President has scheduled his first trip outside Washington to promote his gun-control proposals.
Obama's gun control measures, which include a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as universal background checks for anyone who wants to buy a firearm, have met some resistance on Capitol Hill and from opponents of tighter restrictions on access to guns, including the powerful National Rifle Association.
In Minneapolis, Obama plans to make remarks as well as discuss his proposals with local and law enforcement officials during a stop at the police department's special operations center. He's also expected to visit with community members to hear about their experiences with gun violence, the White House said.
Obama announced his proposals in mid-January, about a month after the Dec. 14 shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
"This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House."