White House releases photo of Obama skeet shooting at Camp David

The White House has released a photo of President Obama skeet shooting at Camp David from August, 2012, attempting to quell a controversy that arose when Obama said that he sympathized with hunters because he frequently went shooting himself.

Source: The White House

“Attn skeet birthers. Make our day – let the photoshop conspiracies begin!,” former White House advisor David Plouffe tweeted in a message containing a link to a photo of Obama brandishing a shot gun and wearing ear muffs and sun glasses.

Conservative critics questioned the veracity of the Obama’s claims of skeet shooting because he had never been seen publicly shooting a gun.

“If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a television interview after Obama’s remarks were made public.

“Why have we not seen photos,” Blackburn continued. “Why has he not referenced it at any point in time as we have had this gun debate that is ongoing?”

{mosads}Blackburn challenged Obama to hold a skeet-shooting contest with her.

“I think he should invite me to Camp David, and I’ll go skeet shooting with him,” she said. “I bet I’ll beat him.”

The comments from Obama that sparked the skeet shooting controversy came in a recent interview with the New Republic.

Obama replied to a question  from the magazine about whether he had ever shot a gun before “[Y]es, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time.”

Obama added that despite his administration’s push to strengthen gun control laws in the U.S., he had “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,” he continued.