PHOTO: Obama firing gun in White House photo
WASHINGTON – Two days before President Barack
Obama’s first trip outside Washington to promote his gun-control
proposals, the White House tried Saturday to settle a brewing mystery by
releasing a photo to back his claim to be a skeet shooter.
Obama had set inquiring minds spinning when, in
an interview with The New Republic magazine, he answered “yes” when
asked if he had ever fired a gun. The admission 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.
Obama never mentioned skeet shooting prior to that interview.
The White House photo released Saturday is dated
Aug. 4. The caption says Obama is shooting clay targets on the range at
Camp David.
The National Rifle Association, which has rejected Obama’s proposals, scoffed at the photo.
“One picture does not erase a lifetime of
supporting every gun ban and every gun-control scheme imaginable,” said
Andrew Arulanandam, the organization’s spokesman.
The NRA opposes Obama’s call for Congress to ban
assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and says
requiring background checks for all gun purchases would be ineffective
because the administration isn’t doing enough to enforce existing gun
laws.
Asked at Monday’s press briefing how frequently
Obama shoots skeet and whether photos existed, White House press
secretary Jay Carney said he didn’t know how often. Pictures may exist,
he said, but he hadn’t seen any.
“Why haven’t we heard about it before?” Carney was asked.
“Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to
spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce
photographs,” Carney said.
Obama is accompanied almost everywhere by at least one White House photographer.
Carney declined to comment on the decision to
release the photo, which he had announced on Twitter. The release
appeared to be part of a strategy to portray Obama as sympathetic to gun
owners and opponents of his gun-control measures who argue the
proposals would infringe on an individual’s Second Amendment right to
bear arms.
A top official with the National Skeet Shooting Association said the photo suggests Obama is a novice shooter.
“This isn’t something he’s done very often
because of how he’s standing, how he has the gun mounted,” said Michael
Hampton, executive director of the San Antonio-based association.
Hampton said Obama’s remark about “skeet
shooting all the time” and the White House photo would have met less
skepticism had the president’s spoken about his hobby months before this
new debate over guns in the U.S.
“Once it becomes controversial and there’s
problems, to talk about it then, that’s where it becomes very debatable
and is not being received as well as if he would have done this six
months ago,” Hampton said.
In interview, appearing in The New Republic’s
Feb. 11 issue, Obama said gun-control advocates should be better
listeners in the debate over firearms, which was sparked by the December
killing of elementary school pupils in Connecticut. He also declared
his deep respect for the long tradition of hunting in this country.
“I have a profound respect for the traditions of
hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think
those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake,” Obama said.
“Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of
guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in
rural areas. And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle
when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your
uncles, and that became part of your family’s traditions, you can see
why you’d be pretty protective of that.”
“So it’s trying to bridge those gaps that I
think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several
months. And that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little
more listening than they do sometimes,” Obama said.
His gun control measures also have met resistance on Capitol Hill.
In Minneapolis on Monday, Obama plans to make
remarks and 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 hear from community members about their
experiences with gun violence.
Obama announced his proposals in mid-January,
about a month after the Dec. 14 shooting deaths of 20 children and six
adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
