White House releases photo of Obama firing gun

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House has released a photo of President Barack Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control.

In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said "yes" when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

The White House photo released Saturday is dated Aug. 4, 2012, and shows Obama shooting at clay targets on the range at Camp David.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130202/DA46K37O2.html

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In this photo released by the White House, President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. The White House released a photo of Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control. In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said yes when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza)

[albear]

1. And it's a totally LEGAL one!

Nobody is going after this one. But the rightwingnuts and the NRA will try to make a fuss by comparing this gun to an assault weapon.

[Duckhunter935]

4. some people here

would and are calling for banning this one

[grantcart]

12. If they are its simply because they get lost in the semantics of the complex merchandising

world of guns and their accessories.

For 90% of the people its a very simple issue of lethality. Its the gun advocates that want to create a fog so that a reasonable discussion is impossible.

[geckosfeet]

31. Reducing the discussion to a question of "is it lethal or not" is inaccurate, lazy,

and unlikely to yield any meaningful action.

A lot of things can be considered lethal. A firearm used as a club can be just as lethal as one used to fire projectiles.

Using lethality and percieved "degrees of lethality" as a premise for regulatory action leads nowhere.

The fog is not created by gun advocates. The fog is an inability to look at and comprehend the relatively simple nature of the firearms industry.

And this is not unique to firearms. All industries have their own market specific complexities. The firearms industry is rather simplistic in comparison. Consider the automobile industry. What does it take to design, build and market an automobile? All those pretty ads with special effects and glamour shots and rock and roll sound tracks. Imagine the public hysteria and conniptions if a firearms manufacturer were to sponsor ads similar to automobile ads. Auto manufacturers boil a complex highly engineered device down to thirty second marketing fodder to convince you to buy their product. You don't have to understand squat about the internal combustion engine, electronics or aerodynamics to make your buying decision - you make it based on whose ad titillates you more effectively. Now that's a fog.

Anyway, the point is the firearms industry and it's hardware is rather simple and easy to understand. The fact that guns shoot bullets and can kill is well understood and not a particularly enlightening or useful bit of information.

[grantcart]

36. the lethality of the weapon is the only point

It goes to the lack of intellectual honesty of gun 'enthusiasts' that they try to obfuscate into technical discussions of weaponry.

If current weapons had the lethality of a musket then there would be no discussion.

Everything flows from the increased efficiency of the kill count by the minute.

Nothing shows this clearer than the bizarre

A lot of things can be considered lethal. A firearm used as a club can be just as lethal as one used to fire projectiles.

Try and beat 10 people to death within a minute.

This is why talking to gun 'enthusiasts' is like talking to a child.

Lethality doesn't mean that something can be lethal but how many people can be killed in rapid succession.

But this is, typically, how discussion degenerates among gun 'enthusiasts', which is not to be confused with gun owners. I meet with about 300 hundred law enforcement individuals in their homes in a year. Virtually none of them are 'enthusiasts'. They don't have guns displayed, they have every weapon secured, and while some may actually enjoy the target range almost none of them put it into the 'ten most interesting' things that they do. They don't obsess about their guns, they don't have gun fetishes and they don't go on the internets trying to pick fights with people who are sick of living in a country that has this level of violence.

By the way I lived overseas for 20 years and spent a lot of time with gun owners overseas, especially in Switzerland where, as you know, there is a gun in almost every house, and they think you 'enthusiasts' are fucking nuts (that's their words). At that time they had to keep their ammunition under seal and every year present it to the police to account for all of the times that they discharged their weapons, oh and the Swiss equivalent to the NRA has no problems with all of the regulations.

[geckosfeet]

38. On that only point, we differ in opinion. nt

[rapturedbyrobots]

52. it's a lot easier with a shotgun

easier to kill 10 people in a minute at the range most recent mass shootings have occurred with a shotgun than an ar-15. what was your point again?

[JohnnyRingo]

60. No shotgun holds ten rounds.

...and they're slow to reload. I think most hunting weapons hold three, and five is the max for all practical purposes.

That said, it doesn't matter because no one is ever going to ban shotguns, even if some people want it done.

[rapturedbyrobots]

64. Plenty of shotguns hold 10 rounds

It is very easy and cheap to modify a standard 12 gauge shotgun to hold 10 rounds. It costs about as much as an extended magazine for the ar-15, which typically ships from the manufacturer with a 5 round magazine. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

[pocoloco]

25. Just the ones who want to insure we never have another

Democratic President or majority.

[David__77]

5. Aren't assault weapons also legal?

I think they are.

[derby378]

39. They are, and they're going to stay legal

Except in California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, as well as Chicago and DC.

[SylviaD]

45. Repeal the 2nd amendment, then they can be easily made illegal along with many more guns. nt

[NaturalHigh]

46. How do you propose to do that?

It would take a constitutional amendment to repeal the 2nd Amendment. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the Constitution amended? Do you really think that thirty-eight states will vote to repeal the 2nd Amendment?

What you are suggesting is never going to happen. Fortunately.

[SylviaD]

54. Fortunately? Yes fortunately our streets are flooded with assault weapons & handguns. Thanks. n/t

[Blandocyte]

55. We had the 2nd before the streets were flooded

But it would be a great experiment to try a repeal, anyway.

[SylviaD]

57. But it seems repealing is "off the table" to the Democratic establishment. n/t

[mountain grammy]

2. Are we kidding? Is this really necessary? Ok, is the president a REAL American now?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. because the Washington Post 'fact-checkers' have been casting doubt

As Charles Pierce said:

Somewhere north of 12 million people unemployed.
...
An ongoing national effort to restrict the franchise and rig elections.

But the courtier press has been busy, busy, busy.

We e-mailed a White House official on Tuesday and then Carney twice on Wednesday asking for the name of an Obama guest at Camp David who could confirm the president's account. (The White House does not publicly release the names of guests.) We received no response all three times. So let's review what we do know.

Tell you what. Let's not. In fact, let's not even give a fk. Let's tell the people peddling this twaddle — Hello, Marsha Blackburn, you crackpot pink balloon, you — that we have better things to do with our time. The gutters need cleaning. Honey Boo Boo's on. In fact, I've never seen a more noble use to which the American people's fundamental apathy toward self-government could be put than in not giving a fk about "what we do know" about this waste of pixels.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/death-to-journalism-013113?src=rss

The WP idiocy:

A number of readers have raised questions about the president’s statement that he goes skeet shooting “all the time” while at Camp David. In these suspicious times, they would like to see some evidence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-white-houses-curious-silence-about-obamas-claim-of-skeet-shooting/2013/01/30/be78bb10-6b35-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_blog.html

'Suspicious times', my arse. It's a hit-piece of the worst sort. All sorts of "where are the photos? Huh? Huh?" crap, and sideswipes like printing photos of Obama with a water-pistol (at Sasha's birthday party). It's the kind of thing you'd expect from Breitbart, but the Washington Post, the supposed paper of the capital, is indulging it. So they've released a photo, to hopefully shut the WP up and get them to think about returning to practising journalism, as opposed to junior high gossip.

[Blandocyte]

56. "The guest" might have been Cheney, who was teaching B.O. how to shoot safely

that would explain the rather low aim.

[marshall]

15. He already said he goes shooting all the time

This photo proves it. I wouldn't doubt that his wife and daughters are also fans of the sport.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Hmmm

I can imagine Faux Snooze going wild with allegations.

[Crepuscular]

6. Tuck

He needs to tuck that down into his shoulder better or he's gonna have a sore shoulder!

Looks like a fun day at the range

[ZombieHorde]

8. So funny. nt

[VA_Jill]

9. Can you just imagine

the howling if they'd posted the picture *before* he said anything about skeet shooting? OMG, a black man with a gun! He must be a New Black Panther! Run for your lives!

[Lasher]

10. Kick

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Black man with a gun!!!

[michigandem58]

13. Awful low aim for skeet shooting

Wonder if this is some type of target shooting?

[RebelOne]

14. That's what it look like. n/t

[NickB79]

30. You don't target shoot with a shotgun

He might be shooting "rabbit" skeet, where the clay pigeon is launched to roll and bounce along the ground.

[Major Nikon]

47. Skeet Birther rumor

It's bullshit.

http://www.politicususa.com/conservatives-jumped-skeet-gate-shark.html

[JoePhilly]

16. Fox News Caption: Obama prepares to personally confiscate your guns.

[wishlist]

17. Obama has last word just like with Birth Certificate flap

This time around White House didn't wait so long to disprove the crazy talkers disputing his word.

[OGKush]

18. Why take so long to release it?

Why not release it when it was taken?

[janx]

19. ??

Why would they feel the need to "release" it? It's just a photo of the President Obama shooting skeet.

[leftynyc]

51. Why? To satisfy the mouth breathing morons

that watch fox news? Fuck them. Leave it to the lemmings to see something noble and manly about having the smarts to pull a finger against a trigger.

[OGKush]

65. So by the White House released the photo to satisfy the right?

Wow, what a waste of time.

[leftynyc]

66. No - they released it

to make fun of the right. The same reason they released the long form birth certificate. Let the right get themselves in a lather and then prove what morons they are. Masterful.

[Ash_F]

20. Fake as JFK's moon landing

Said the teabagger.

[Agony]

21. I could care less for a photo of the President firing a gun.

I want to see a photo of THE FIRST LADY firing a gun! He did say "we"... but not his daughters...

Go Michelle!

[OldRedneck]

22. No, he is not shooting to low and other nonsense

No, he is not shooting too low.

Skeet and trap shooting (they are different, you did know that, right?) use clay discs --- "clay pigeons" -- that are thrown from mechanical throwers to mimic the flight of a bird or birds that have been flushed from their hiding places and are in flight. Because birds flush and fly off in different directions, the throwers can be set to throw the clays high, low, medium, etc.

I skeet shooting, the clays fly across in front of the shooter, left to right/right to left. In trap shooting, the clays fly away from the shooter.

Most skeet ranges use two "houses" -- a low house and a high house. One house is to the shooter's left, the other to the right. Clays can be thrown as low as a few feet off the ground. Typically the low house throws about head high, the high house throws about 12-15 feet. The clays cross in front of the shooter, requiring the shooter to find the target, get his gun on it, fire, then find the second target and engage.

He's probably firing on the low house clay.

His left hand is on the trigger because . . . get ready for this . . . the President is LEFT-HANDED!!

See the smoke coming from the front of the barrel? And see the smoke coming from the side of the barrel? This gun appears to be a Browning Citori -- it's a $3,500 gun used by serious shooters. It comes with a vented barrel that blows some of the expanding gasses out of a vent in the end of the barrel. This is done to reduce recoil so the shooter can control the gun better. If you shoot with a non-vented barrel, all the expanding gasses from the shell go out the end of the barrel, causing the gun to recoil straight back into your shoulder, kicking you backward and you have to straighten your stance to find the second clay and shoot at it. A vented barrel reduces recoil (kick) and helps the shooter stay on target.

Those are not simple sunglasses. They are high-impact plastic safety glasses. Every range I have ever been on requires shooters to wear eye and hearing protection.

[energumen]

29. i have to disagree about the venting reducing recoil

at least to any significant degree, however barrel porting should help the shooter stay on target by forcing the barrel down making it easier for the shooter to reacquire the target
i personally do not care for any browning i have used, i like my frigon but prefer the krieghoff k80

[hexola]

34. Considering the terrain in that area - the range might be sloped? Like shooting down a ski slope?

Thought that might account for the low aim...or what seems like a a low aim.

[Major Nikon]

48. It wouldn't be sloped any more than any other skeet range

Depending on what position you are firing from, which house the target is coming from, and how far the clay is away from you when you shoot, you can get all sorts of different angles. It's part of the challenge that skeet presents.

[Nika]

49. Thanks for the explanation of this sport.

There is a lot about it I am totally in the dark about.

[OldRedneck]

23. There is one thing wrong with this photo

WHERE'S THE BEER?!?!?!?!?

Never go shooting without a couple of six-packs.

[janx]

24. I beg to differ.

Look at where that got VP Cheney.

[HuskyOffset]

26. It's not Cheney...

...that got anywhere, it was Harry Whittington, who got to go to the hospital. There should have been some sort of mandatory gun safety course imposed on Dick, but who are we kidding. There's a reason Skeet Ulrich will never go skeet shooting with Mr. Cheney if he's ever invited: because there's just enough ambiguity in just which skeet is being refered to. Seriously though, who else but a powerful, rich, white dude could shoot someone in the face with a shotgun and not have to at least visit a police or sheriff's station to answer a few questions?

[darkangel218]

27. Hahaha thats funny

Not recomended though

[awoke_in_2003]

41. Last pic I saw of him...

without a shirt shows he has a six pack.

[rightsideout]

28. Wow!

Not only can he play Basketball. He can Skeet Shoot too.

Now how many Right Wing Nut Jobs can do both? LOL.

[roosterpack]

32. livin proof.....................

....................he's the coolest prez...............ever.

[Paladin]

33. This Thread Is "Livin' Proof"....

...that no matter what Obama does regarding firearms, the gun activists are going to fault him for it in some way......

[Bucky]

43. No, the coolest president would've shot over his shoulder with a mirror, Annie Oakley style.

Oh, and this is my best shop job ever

[JohnnyRingo]

61. Now that's funny right there...

It didn't occur to me until now that we're gonna see a whole bunch of 'shopped versions of this.

[Doctor_J]

35. I thought his second term was going to be free from pandering

Guards in the schools, Holder still AG, now posing with a gun. What a bizarre country.

[Ash_F]

37. I don't recall any such promises. /nt

[Doctor_J]

58. It was an overriding theme among the DU New Dems during the campaign

The president was going to unleash his inner FDR and kick Repuke ass on a daily basis. It sounded sort of suspicious given term 1 debacle, but the KoolAid drinkers sounded convinced.

[Ash_F]

59. I know, I was there.

I was here during the Kerry campaign too. There was a similar theme then. I was just poking fun, like you.

[SylviaD]

40. I find this picture somewhat disquieting. Is this some appeal to NRA types? What? n/t

[Bucky]

42. Of course not. People demanded to see proof, so he showed it.

If they hadn't released it, the nuts would've had something to harp about. If they'd waited for even a couple of days more, the nutjobs would've started up conspiracy talk about Obama staging the photo ex post facto, simply fueling the nondebate about a non-topic and diverting the news outlets with more crazy talk.

But now you want to impute vague motives to a simple act of honesty? There's nothing to hide here. The president relaxed with a little target practice. It was a non-story to begin with. A simple press release killed it and allows the conversation to turn to real issues.

[slackmaster]

44. I find it humorous

In many ways.

[JohnnyRingo]

50. Like when he slapped down Trump on the birth certificate

He waited until the shrills on the right made a big deal about it and thought they had him in a corner.... them *boom*, he drops it in their lap.

One would think they'd get tired of playing these gotcha games with Obama when they keep losing time after time.

Just like when they needled Clinton for eight years, they just get up, dust themselves off, and make another run at a fake scandal.

[Franker65]

53. Seems relatively meaningless

Just shows Obama knows what he's talking about when he wants to enforce gun control. Clay shooting is quite normal anyway, not quite as controversial as the Spanish king hunting elephants.

[yellowcanine]

62. O crap, now all of the "friends of skeets" are going to get their panties in a twist.

Skeets are people too!

[yellowcanine]

63. If I were shooting I would have to learn to shoot left handed also.

Because my right eye doesn't focus very well.