Nope, that’s not our handiwork. To prove the CIC’s gun cred, the White House has just released this pic of the Prez busting a low house crosser. From thehill.com: “‘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 sunglasses.” On balance, this is a win for gun rights advocates. Although the proponents of civilian disarmament will use the image to say “See? The President isn’t against all guns!” the image normalizes all guns. In other words, it proves (to the non-gun members of the electorate) that guns in the hands of law-abiding civilians [sic] aren’t so scary. Your thoughts?

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110 COMMENTS

  1. Like I said, whether or not the prez actually skeet shoots is a direction. The longer the gun community makes a big issue about, the more ridiculous we all look (ie “birthers”).

    The struggle over 2A rights needs to be centered on communities and citizens. We, the people, should refuse to have our ability to bear arms be dictated by the likes/dislikes of celebrities and politicians.

  2. Sweet. There’s no way that this is a staged photo taken after the Pres. said goes skeet shooting on the regular.

    Still has nothing to do with the Second Amendment, which is about armed defense of one’s self and community. After all, the Battle of Athens wasn’t fought against clay pigeons.

        • I’m left handed too, I shoot pistols and shotguns left handed (although I had to teach myself to shoot rifles right handed)

          wanna make something out of it? >:I

          lol just kidding

    • Well, it certainly isn’t a recent photo. It’s winter at Camp David. No leaves on the deciduous trees, and way too cold to be out in a T-shirt.

      • I was being tongue-in-cheek. The photo’s certainly legit; Obama’s definitely shot guns at Camp David, and maybe even done it frequently.

        Unfortunately, “I shoot skeet a lot” is still a pretty transparent attempt to split sportshooters and hunters off from the rest of gunowners, and arguing over the legitimacy of Obama’s statement (and demanding proof) is rather missing the point.

        • Roger that, I figured you were being tongue in cheek, just making sure that the dog-pile on the picture had some measure of fact. I mean, I don’t like the guy, I think it’s odd that this picture wasn’t published sooner, but it does appear that he has gone skeet shooting. Now, I’ve driven through Daytona Beach Florida, and that makes me as much of a NASCAR driver as this picture makes Mr. President a friend of the Second Amendment.

        • spoos in august ..I have a question have you ever fired your gun at the same angle as the prez here? looks to me like he’s doing a dick cheney here. shouldn’t the barrel be more of an upward angle? i say this is a PR shot for the media also what did they use a high speed camera to get the perfect shot? (vent smoke) whats the odds of getting that picture perfect …just wondering

        • r,f,a: “i say this is a PR shot for the media also what did they use a high speed camera to get the perfect shot? (vent smoke) whats the odds of getting that picture perfect”

          I would answer both of those by saying that the folks who take these photos are professionals, and doing it right is what they get paid for.

      • The EXIF data has not been stripped. On the actual Flickr page for that photo, as linked in the post above, there is a line of “Additional info” which when moused over says “View EXIF information for this photo,” and when clicked on leads to this page, which contains a whole host of EXIF type data for the image, including the date of August 4, 2012 at 7:19 p.m, and all the relevant photographic settings.

        Of course, this is where you say, “Yeah, it does say that, but do you know how easy it is to edit EXIF data to say whatever you want it to say?”

        So, first the EXIF data isn’t there, which is suspicious, and then when it is there, it’s really easy to edit. That’s called moving the goalposts, and it’s a sign you know you’re losing the argument.

  3. We know he has been forced to shoot before at Camp David. But the assertarion he does it all the time is just absurd.

    • the assertion that he does any recreational activity “all the time” is a hyperbolic exaggeration.

      • True for every recreational activity claimed by every modern president. There just aren’t enough hours in the week.

        I’m willing to believe that President Obama might find an hour or two each week to play basketball on the court a 5-minute walk from his office, though.

    • when he shot there, he was reluctant and a little nervous. it was also very early in his first term.
      i heard a joke with someone asking him if he really shot skeet, and he said ya all the time. just ask my wife, she is the one who cleans and cooks them.

  9. Utter crap, they took this pic knowing that it could be used in a 2A debate if needed, bu was never released ????? Must not wanted to upset his base voters….

      • I’m left-handed, and I wear my watch on my left wrist. I keep thinking about changing, but I’ve been socialized to accept the oppressive and discriminatory right-handed-typical world.

        • @Chewy

          I’m one of those lefties who wears a watch on my left hand. I don’t have any problem writing with it on, but it does bug me when I’m typing on a computer.

        • Left-handed, left wrist for watch wear, but shoot, bat, throw, and kick righty. Also, I’m pretty sure left-handed scissors are purposely made to pinch little hands to discourage their use and force re-programming into the righty culture.

        • It’s tough living in the Right Man’s world,

          I say “Viva La Revolucion’ ”

          freedom from Righty!

      • I write with my left (seldom, type most), wear my watch on my left and can’t stand when I’ve tried ala Steve McQueen on my right. I do everything else right handed, I shoot right handed as well.

        But this thread isn’t about me…but I believe the world would be better if it was.

    • >Shouldn’t a lefty be wearing a watch on his right arm. Conspiracies abound

      No. And no they don’t.

      • It’s tongue-in-cheek fellas, don’t read anything into it.

        That said, lefties should be wearing a watch on the right wrist. Of course, some don’t, but those individuals are wrong.

        Catch the point now?

        • Watches used to be designed to be manipulated by the right hand, when they had to be wound or adjusted by hand using the right side mounted stem. Modern watches with push buttons not so much, but the convention remains.

  12. I hope for his sake that thing isn’t top ported, feinswine will be on him like white on rice, Randy

  13. Obummer must have had his mom jeans cinched pretty tight to pull that off. Of course this picture is photoshopped, you can’t see the telepromter.

  14. “it proves (to the non-gun members of the electorate) that guns in the hands of law-abiding civilians [sic] aren’t so scary. Your thoughts?”

    Since when are politicians law-abiding citizens?

  15. It looks like the shoulder thing needs to go down a little.

    And what’s with the jeans? Wasn’t his first duty as president on his first term to publicly bash Bush for not being in a full suit 24/7?

    Edit to Add: Dosnt skeet shooting involve shooting towards the sky? I have never done it before but from this pic it seems I may know more than Obummer

  16. Questions for you skeet shooters out there: Is the appearance of smoke from the barrel and porting normal for high-humidity areas such as Maryland/Camp David? The only time we see smoke like that out West is when someone is shooting a muzzleloader with black powder or Pyrodex.

    Shouldn’t there be at least a tiny bit of recoil evident, even with low-recoil skeet loads? I mean, with the smoke still showing on the photo, wouldn’t this represent a period very soon after the shot went off? Or am I so conditioned by his verbal lies that I assume everything he does is staged?

    • I wouldn’t put a Photoshop past any major media outlet, but the White House stands to loose a lot by pulling a trick like that. Let’s assume it’s legit and deal with. We have bigger fish to fry than skeetgate.

    • To avoid increasing the deficit Mr. Obama is obviously shooting black powder shells left over from 1880.

    • This one isn’t photoshopped but its a perfect one to photoshop a different gun into. I vote for a FN FAL. Then you can put it on a pro 2A protest sign.

  20. So? So he shot a gun that Frankenstein currently labels acceptable. Does he also serve breakfast with a smile and a “Thank ya, Massah”? Compliance with tyranny only makes the tyrant want more.

  22. Look, it’s a loosing proposition for Obama to claim that he’s an avid shooter and it’s a loosing proposition for us to claim that he’s nothing more than a liar.

    He’s a formidable opponent here and we don’t do ourselves any favors by simply dismissing him as a clown.

  23. Anyone able to ID the gun? Also, looks like an over/under. Are those types ported on the upper barrel?

  24. A high end shotgun on a gated and gaurded estate. That’s a real man of the people right there.

    And for what it’s worth, I’m right handed and wear my watch on my left arm with the face positioned at my wrist. Complicated world, ain’t it.

    • In the world of trap and skeet shooting, a Browning Citori is rarely regarded as a “high end” shotgun. In fact Brownings are on the “affordable” or “entry level” end of the spectrum, compared to such esteemed manufacturers as Perazzi and Krieghoff.

  25. If there is one single person on the entire freakin’ planet that I don’t want to have a gun, it’s that jackalope right there.

  26. People are good at compartmentalizing. If Obama enjoyed shooting crew-served machine guns and mortars up at Camp David, he’d have supporters who would say “good, he needs to be able to protect himself!”

  27. Brezhnev went hunting too.
    http://gdb.rferl.org/D05E586B-DC79-4698-AE3A-CE95F7A2D9F0_mw800_mh600.jpg
    http://statehistory.ru/img_lib/blog/brezhnev_ohota/brezhnev4.jpg
    He also loved to drive luxury western cars at full speed…

    The citizens of their countries could also own hunting guns. After a strenuous and humiliating procedure, filled with red tape. Unless they were military or police. In fact, most hunters in Eastern Europe are almost exclusively policemen, military or politicians. Obama is trying to turn the US into Eastern Europe.

  28. I’m reading a lot of hostility in that jab at the birthers. I think part of this gun control push is cheap revenge against something the president and his supporters perceive as being an important issue to the birther/tea party crowd.

    Clearly his aim stinks, because he’s hitting a lot of his base while energizing and building support for his opponents too.

  29. Man does he look like an extraterrestrial at a baseball game or what? Very posed, unnatural and out of character. This is pure misdirection. Look hunters I shoot skeet so we’re cool….

  30. Well let’s see…

    His “birth certificate” has already been debunked…

    I say BULLSHIT!

    PHOTOSHOP!

    This occupier in the WH has NO credibility whatsoever!

  32. Obama’s a lefty – all you need to know about him. As most of you know, left handed people are inherently evil. 🙂

  33. He shoots like a neophyte girl
    T.R. was a huge Lefty but at least he had a rifle range at the WH, and if he were posing for this Pic he would have a FA!

  34. “… ‘Attn skeet birthers. Make our day – let the photoshop conspiracies begin!,’ former White House advisor David Plouffe tweeted …”

    Oh, I see what he did there. He beat us all to the punch by predicting people are gonna call Obama a liar about his shooting a gun and then make fun of him by messing with that picture.

    Gee. What would motivate anyone to do that I wonder.

    Asshole.

  35. I could be wrong but judging from that buttstock looks like it is in the shoulder joint and not the pocket. Ouch! Maybe his secret service trainers dont like him either.

  36. Obummer’s point in this skeet is rolling with Biden’s flow of all you need a duck gun and not a 30 round semi black so called assault rifle.

  37. The photo may or may not be real, but if it is real, I think it was done by specialized high speed camera equipment. I don’t think your average press camera is going to catch that stop motion during recoil. Which lead me to believe it was done for the express purpose of being released, not for BHO’s scrapbook.

  39. Yeah, so he shoots skeet. Shotguns have accounted for more gun murders every year dating back to 2007, except for 2010 when rifles accounted for one more murder than shotguns.

    Let’s put the arguments that he doesn’t shoot that often or that this is photoshopped to rest. Let’s promote the fact that he shoots a weapon which is used in more murders than the dreaded Assault Rifle.

    http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-8

  40. In any case this is all about the effort to divide gun owners, to sway hunters towards an AWB and mag capacity restrictions. Hopefully the actions of NY state will wake them up to reality.

  41. Hey look, I’m just like ya’ll! Except, I’m shooting a shotgun most of you only dream about, especially in this economy, while on private land that is maintained with your tax dollars! Ain’t being President wonderful?

    This photo doesn’t establish solidarity with either hunters or gun owners at large. All it does is highlight the growing disparity between those at the top, and the rest of us. Even if I went skeet shooting, I currently have neither the time, nor the money to do so, and I know there are many in the same boat. Way to fiddle while Rome burns, maternal fornicator.

  42. The mans shooting horizontally not at skeet which would be for safety reasons more up in the sky. This is a Photoshopped pic made up to support Obama’s cause.

  43. I find it hilarious that the White House feels the need to “prove” Obama has actually shot a gun.

  44. I don’t know what the idea for this was but this is almost as bad as when Paul Ryan did that soup kitchen stunt for one photo.

  46. “Now Joe, when I said ‘GIT’, I MEANT it. I’m on vacation. Come back when I’m not on vacation. In other words, after my term’s over.”

  47. By mid-June of last year, Obama had played his 100th round of golf since being sworn in Jan. 2009. That’s a round of golf every 3 weeks, approximately. A round of golf takes about 4 hours+, too. And then there’s all the time shooting hoops. To try to pretend he’s a shooting enthusiast is laughable.

  49. Pictures a setup. If he did shoot all the time the pic would’ve surfaced the next day, not a week later. It’s a good thing he’s wearing sunglasses otherwise we’d see that his eyes are closed and I’ll bet that he’s even shooting blanks. But I’ll just take Michelle’s word on that!

  50. awwww skeet skeet skeet skeet

    I’m sorry, but are you actually suggesting that Obama is a “law-abiding civilian?”

  51. One would think that if Obama skeet shoots as much as he claims there would be dozens of pictures from various times released not just one.

    What politician does not have a photographer handy whenever he/she can.

  52. It looks like a posed photo with the shotgun but not actually firing it. The smoke coming out of the barrel and right side porting is much more than I’ve seen over years of shooting ported Brownings. The porting is equal on both sides of the barrel rib, where is the smoke from the left side ports? You might rarely see a shotgun at a clays shoot with only one extended choke tube but it seems ridiculous on the shotgun used by the POTUS.

    In that environment glasses that dark would make it difficult to see the bird, light colored lenses would be the pick. The barrel angle doesn’t seem off to me, station 4 or 5 could present that kind of elevation depending on the range set up, also anytime you shoot at clay birds even with a hand thrower people tend to call it skeet shooting.

    I’m no photography expert so maybe a really fast shutter speed could account for it but there should be more signs of recoil. There is a little blurring on the gun but his arms, face, and shoulders show nothing.

    All this means nothing of course, I don’t care if he shoots clay birds or not. I care whether he upholds the 2A not to mention the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights.

  53. So Barry pops a few rounds off one day for a propaganda photo shoot. Big deal.
    Kid Kenyan still wants our guns, rights, power.

  55. That and the fact he is almost leaning back and has half the gun over his shoulder means why is this gun not bucking almost out of his hands .

    Another question, have you ever shot skeet with someone that had to go back to the bench for every turn? Or does he have some lowly paid stafffer running shells out to him or a personal loader since it is doubtful he even knows how to open the breach on that sweet gun?

  57. I was just going through the bbc new site and they are saying the photo was released to prove obama understands guns and hunters. What a f*cling clown this guy is.. the follow up photo wasn’t released cause it shows him dropping the gun and running away screaming.

  58. I am not worried about a clay target kicking in my back door. Is this picture supposed to make us think King Barry is a shooter, yeah right!

  59. I think the point is he shoots like a girl. He looks scared holding that thing, I’ve seen women who look more manly shooting than this little boy! Google it!

    The Second Amendment – Stand Behind it or stand in front of those that will! The Second Amendment is ONLY about the right to the self-defense of these truths we hold to be self evident.

  60. “Let the Photoshop conspiracies begin!”

    Far enough.

    The original image EXIF data from the official image:

    Software / Firmware Version {0×0131} Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)
    Last Modified Date/Time {0×0132} 2013:02:01 17:11:38
    Artist {0x013B} Pete Souza

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